Dereliction of Beauty: First in a series from Inside Climate News on how lax regulation of beauty care products victimizes women of color. ICN is a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for the ICN newsletter here. For Jeanette Toomer, the hours she used to spend to ensure that […]
FDA
Posted inHealth
A Game-Changing Cure for Sickle Cell May Be Coming
Black physicians are excited about a groundbreaking gene-editing treatment for sickle cell disease that a federal advisory panel deemed safe enough for clinical use this week — but they also worry about access. “It offers a lot of potential,” Dr. Oyebimpe Adesina, a hematologist at the University of California Davis, told Capital B Tuesday. “But […]
Posted inHealth, Health Equity
What a Proposed Ban on Some Chemicals in Hair Straighteners Means for Black Women
As research stacks up pointing to the long-term health risks of chemical hair relaxers, aka “creamy crack,” many Black women have long ditched the lye and are sticking with their natural hair textures. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s recent proposed ban on cancer-causing formaldehyde, a key ingredient in some products, has been called a […]
Posted inHealth, Maternal Health
Will the FDA-Approved Blood Test for Preeclampsia Decrease Maternal Deaths?
The recently approved test that can predict which pregnant patients are at risk for developing severe preeclampsia is a promising step, Black doctors and midwives say, but there are limitations. “It’s definitely a welcomed tool, so we are hopeful,” said Dr. Garfield Clunie, president of the National Medical Association, which represents Black doctors. “The pause […]
Posted inHealth, Reproductive Health
What’s Missing From the ‘Abortion Pill’ Conversation
Two conflicting rulings on the legality of a drug often used to end pregnancies or manage miscarriages have many wondering how this could impact reproductive health care access for Black families in the months to come. Last Friday, a federal judge in Texas ruled that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s long-standing approval of the […]
Posted inRural Issues
Black Moms in Rural Areas on WIC Are Devastated By Formula Shortage
Ayanna White is used to seeing families in crisis. As the founder of a South Carolina diaper bank, she provides baby supplies to residents experiencing financial hardship. But the nation’s infant formula shortage has put her on the front lines of an “unimaginable” crisis, she says, one that’s hitting rural, low-income parents particularly hard. White […]
Posted inHealth, Health Equity
Menthol Cigarette Ban Receives Pushback from Some Racial Justice Advocates
This story has been updated. The Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday rules for a proposed nationwide ban on the sale of menthol cigarettes, a move that has significant implications for Black communities, which disproportionately smoke menthol products. Public health experts lauded the FDA’s announcement, saying it will significantly reduce tobacco-related health diseases and death. […]
Posted inHealth, Health Equity
A Nationwide Ban on Menthol Cigarettes Could Be Coming, and It’s Dividing Racial Justice Advocates
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to introduce a nationwide ban on the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars this spring, a move intended to reduce racial health disparities in tobacco-related diseases and death. But the proposal has divided racial justice advocates who debate whether the health benefits would come at the […]