Korean sunscreen is all the rage. If you’re American, you might be out of luck.

“In Korea, sunscreens are regulated as functional cosmetics versus the US where they’re regulated as over-the-counter drugs. The Korean Ministry of Food & Drug Safety (MFDS) is the regulatory authority, similar to the FDA, that’s responsible for creating and overseeing the sunscreen approval process. The approval process includes submitting clinical safety and efficacy documentation to the MFDS, which is far simpler than what the US requires. The testing and documentation is similar to what’s required in other global regions but the process is more efficient and can be done quickly.
In contrast, because the FDA treats sunscreen like a drug (and not a cosmetic), they have some of the most stringent requirements in the world, which requires extensive testing. As a result, the FDA in the United States has not greenlit any new UV filters since 1999. Notably, the FDA has recently mandated supplementary safety data for all previously approved chemical UV filters to uphold their market presence in the US.”

https://www.vox.com/culture/354545/korean-sunscreen-is-all-the-rage-if-youre-american-you-might-be-out-of-luck

I Don’t Have Coronavirus. It Might Kill Me Anyway.

“We were just about to leave for the two-hour drive to the hospital when the nurse called back. She said Duke University Hospital was now requiring the results of virus testing prior to admitting anyone for surgery. They didn’t have a test to give me; just a policy that required me to get one. I contacted my physician in Winston-Salem, but he said the hospital there was only testing patients who had been admitted with serious virus symptoms. Almost as quickly as it had been scheduled, the surgery was canceled.

I don’t know how long it will be before there are enough tests available that someone like me can get one. But unlike other people who might just be curious about whether they are infected or not, I have a clock ticking in my body. While I wait for the test, this cancer could metastasize. By the time they can perform the surgery, it might be a moot point.”

What Mike Pence’s public health record says about his ability to lead on coronavirus

“In 2011, a Congress member from Indiana helped pass federal legislation to strip funding from Planned Parenthood.

Two years later, the last Planned Parenthood affiliate in Scott County, Indiana, closed its doors because of budget cuts. It was also the last HIV testing center in the county. By 2015, an HIV outbreak was brewing in the state. At the peak of the outbreak, 20 new cases were being diagnosed per week, with a total of nearly 200 cases eventually reported, according to HuffPost.

But that Congress member, who became Indiana’s governor, didn’t want to authorize a needle-exchange program to stop the spread of the virus.

“I don’t believe effective anti-drug policy involves handing out drug paraphernalia,” he said.

That Indiana governor was, of course, Mike Pence. Now he’s the vice president, and on Wednesday, President Trump put him in charge of fighting coronavirus in the US.”

“In general, the administration has sought to restrict funding to Planned Parenthood and other groups, reproductive health advocates say, without regard to the public health implications. The administration’s policies have already made it harder for low-income Americans to get screening for conditions like breast and cervical cancer. And some fear that, especially with Pence in charge, the administration could put politics over science when it comes to coronavirus response too.”

“Finally, over two months after the HIV outbreak was reported, Pence said he would pray on the issue, according to the New York Times. Two days later, he issued an executive order for syringes to be distributed in Scott County.

The distribution helped stop the epidemic, according to the Times. But Pence didn’t actually allocate new money for the program, or for fighting the epidemic generally, forcing state officials to cut other health programs, Meyerson said: “overall, his governorship showed that he did not commit to an adequately funded public health infrastructure.””

“Last year, the administration issued a rule barring Planned Parenthood and other groups that perform or refer for abortions from getting federal funding through Title X, a program aimed at providing family planning services to low-income Americans. As a result, nearly 1,000 health centers around the country have lost funding, making it harder for many Americans to get necessary services like cancer screening or HIV tests.”

“Also in 2017, six members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS resigned in protest, with one writing in Newsweek that “the Trump administration has no strategy to address the ongoing H.I.V./AIDS epidemic, seeks zero input from experts to formulate H.I.V. policy, and — most concerning — pushes legislation that will harm people living with H.I.V. and halt or reverse important gains made in the fight against this disease.”

Then, in 2019, the Trump administration cut funding for fetal-tissue research, despite long-standing arguments by scientific and medical experts that such research is crucial for developing vaccines and treatments for diseases. Research into AIDS and other conditions has already suffered as a result, Carter said.”