The flexible polymer material was developed at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. ow.ly/95Bt50Z9t67

For all the parents out there dealing with a decision... let me give you another perspective In 2018 my wife and I went in for our 20? week ultra sound at Beth Israel in Boston... the rep was very quiet the whole time, something seemed off. My wife & I were first time parents... didn't have much context. The doctor pulled us into her office and told us our sons nuchal fold was abnormally large... she went on to say there is a significant increased chance of Down Syndrome and even Turner's syndrome... talked about options to terminate the pregnancy. My wife was inconsolable, rightly so ... even thinking about it now brings back a lot of heavy emotions because of how hard of a day it was... hard... I did a lot of research on the topic ... my wife & I prayed non stop about it. All we could do. The doctors wanted to do an amniocentesis which has its own host of risks..run more tests... We came to the conclusion, which was not easy... it didn't matter... no amnio, no more tests.... I felt in my soul the Lord's plan was perfect and if our son was going to have Down Syndrome we would love him and shepherd him through this world the best we could. We get what we get. Anything from the Lord was a BLESSING and I was not going to point my finger at Him Fast forward to today... our son is going to be 8 in the fall. He is perfect. Just hit a homerun the other day... a much better baseball player than I was at his age. My best friend I share this deeply personal story for nothing more than to give just ONE parent hope... the Lord's plan is perfect... stay the course

This week, my wife and I made the very difficult decision to terminate the pregnancy due to Trisomy 21. The choice was not made lightly. We really appreciate all of the personal stories that you guys shared with us, especially the unconditional support we received from fans with no matter what we decided. I know some of you may be very disappointed to hear this news. We are devastated. This has been extremely traumatic for both of us, especially Ashley. She underwent the procedure earlier this week and is on the mend. Thankfully, everything went smoothly, but emotionally we are drained. Trisomy 21, also known as Down Syndrome, is caused by an extra chromosome. It is caused by an error in cell division, like a glitch. The odds of a baby having it is 1 in 1000. When I first confronted this news, I was shocked but optimistic. If they’re a little slow intellectually, then we’ll make it work. I signed on to be a parent, come what may…but I just didn’t fully understand what Down Syndrome entailed. Once we made it public, it became clear that MOST people don’t know what Down Syndrome entails (and no, it’s not the same as Autism): 50% of babies with DS have heart defects. 75% will have hearing challenges. Over 50% will have vision problems. Impaired immune function, developmental disabilities, learning disabilities, delayed physical development, poor muscle tone, structural issues with face, decreased lifespan, etc…Sadly, the list is long, feel free to look it up…Down Syndome isn’t a “blessing”, it is objectively shitty from a health perspective. I didn’t realize just how rough it is for the child, let alone the family…more often than not, they would be fully dependent on others for the rest of their life. The miscarriage risk is also close to 50%, which made matters worse…they may never see the light of day and it puts Ashley further at risk. We spoke with doctors, friends, family and genetic counselors and learned that up to 90% of women terminate their pregnancy after learning the baby has Trisomy 21. This was WAY higher than I expected, I thought it would be lower given that I hear so many say they kept or would keep the baby. I believe that’s because most terminations happen privately, it feels shameful. A lot of judgment being cast. You never think you’d be in this type of situation until it happens to you and then things change. To all of my fans who have weighed in on this topic who have Autism, Down Syndrome or any other conditions…we appreciate you. You matter a lot and we’re glad you’re here. I commend you and your families for having the strength and courage to push forward. As for us, we made a difficult decision that we believe in the long-run will be beneficial for our family. Thankfully, we had a choice. It will take a little time to move on, but we are excited to try again in the future and hopefully have a better outcome. Love you guys & thank you for understanding. ❤️

8 new topics added in latest ACR Appropriateness Criteria update ow.ly/E9Rw50Z7Fy6

It is estimated that nearly 350,000 patients’ personal information, including social security numbers, driver's license numbers and medical diagnoses, was exposed during the attack. ow.ly/WzoO50Z76HG

Did you know that official police policy requires them to be racist against Whites? It is deeply wrong and must change NOW.

Feds release highly anticipated No Surprises Act final rule, drawing mixed reactions from radiology. @RadiologyACR @ACEPNation @zotecpartners @Radntx @Rad_Partners ow.ly/BLmT50Z5Nvc

Augusta Maine PD - We Are FORCED To Allow Crime Democrats passed state law that gives special criminal protections to homeless; drug use, indecent exposure, criminal trespassing, public drinking, etc etc. Young adults brag about this, all they have to do is claim they are homeless and they can openly do any drug, drink, & commit low level crimes w/out being charged. Democrats did this on purpose. LD 1478, "An Act to Decriminalize Homelessness") Applies to: People lacking a home Covered protected offenses for homeless: Criminal trespass. Disorderly conduct. Indecent exposure Possession or use of drugs Public drinking Shareable youtube video: youtube.com/watch?v=d8kVq_K5… Mainers in video: @pwa1776 @mainemama7 @TruthSlingerX

Health system 'hemorrhages' $280M on radiologist outsourcing in 1 year radiologybusiness.com/topics…

You can believe whatever you want, but there already are scientific studies looking into that risk, so not sure where you get that "no one has the mind set to test" such a hypothesis today. Most definitely, oncologists and radiologists at cancer centers would be concerned if the radiation exposure from imaging screening somehow increased risk of the cancers they are trying to detect, treat and prevent. Pretty dark view of the world to suggest otherwise. Here are some of the many papers investigating such possibilities: pubs.rsna.org/doi/full/10.11… acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/… nature.com/articles/bjc20116… An entire monograph devoted to the topic: academic.oup.com/jncimono/ar… There is a vein of research in the specific BRCA1 subset with genetic predisposition to breast cancer that suggests the hypothesis might be a concern for this genetic subgroup, for which it is an active area of investigation: radioprotection.org/articles…

Snowbird couple sues radiologist, @SpectrumHCP and @MaineHealth claiming he missed signs of an impending stroke. ow.ly/UKEU50Z2HjS

A private insurer just decided that a cancer patient could not have her chemotherapy in the cancer center. She walked away from treatment entirely. This is the rollout most clinicians have not noticed yet, and it is starting in rural America by design. Banu Symington has practiced hematology-oncology in highly rural settings for more than 20 years. In May, at a state oncology meeting, the room was told three things were "coming down the pike": white bagging, brown bagging, and off-site infusions. They were framed as remote possibilities. Within a week, two of her insurance carriers sent her letters. They would no longer reimburse chemotherapy delivered inside the cancer center. She was to write orders sending her patients to an independent infusion suite owned by a community pharmacist, staffed only by nurses, with no oncologist on the floor, no nurse practitioner trained to manage an infusion reaction, no ER down the hall, no code blue team in the building. Infusion reactions can occur at any cycle, not just the first. She appealed. The insurer denied the appeal. Her hospital's finance manager offered to match the off-site price so the chemotherapy could remain in a setting where a physician could intervene. The insurer refused to negotiate. One of her patients withdrew from chemotherapy entirely. She would not go off-site, and she could not pay out of pocket. So the treatment ended. The strategy is rural-first by design. Fewer rural physicians, fewer rural patients, less organized resistance. Once it scales there, urban centers are next. Medicare is not doing this. Private insurance is. Medicare Advantage, which is private insurance administering Medicare, is beginning to. Save the framework, three rollout vectors to watch in your market: 1. Off-site infusion mandates: chemotherapy moved out of the cancer center to an unsupervised, for-profit suite 2. White bagging: drugs shipped to the hospital pharmacy with no margin retained, eroding the only line that keeps rural cancer centers solvent 3. Brown bagging: cytotoxic drugs shipped directly to the patient's home, then carried in, with no chain-of-custody guarantee on temperature or handling Cancer centers do not break even on Medicare or Medicaid. The small margin on privately insured patients is what keeps them open. Strip that margin and the centers close. The patients then drive further, or stop. Listen to the full conversation on The Podcast by KevinMD. Link in the replies. What is the first vector you have already seen land in your market? #PatientAdvocacy #ThePodcastbyKevinMD