Trump administration will shut LGBTQ youth-focused suicide prevention line
The Trump administration said it will shut down the national suicide prevention hotline's LGBTQ youth-focused services, terminating a program designed to offer expert help to a group that is especially vulnerable to suicide.
The announcement sparked concern among LGBTQ advocates and some mental health professionals, as the Trump administration continues its efforts to roll back LGBTQ rights and dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The White House Office of Management and Budget characterized the service as an attempt to encourage children to embrace 'radical gender ideology,' Reuters reported, a term the Trump administration has used repeatedly to target the LGBTQ community.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Medscape
22 minutes ago
- Medscape
Is It Worth Adding Chemo to ICI for NSCLC in Older Adults?
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) are a cornerstone of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treatment, but it's not clear whether adding chemotherapy to ICI — a common practice with younger patients with NSCLC — helps older ones. No randomized trial has directly compared stand-alone ICI with chemoimmunotherapy in geriatric patients with NSCLC. Without strong data supporting the combined approach, oncologists may stay away from offering chemoimmunotherapy to older patients, especially to those with multiple comorbidities, given concerns about increased toxicity. To address the evidence gap, investigators linked Medicare and Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results data to compare outcomes between 14,249 older patients with NSCLC who received ICI alone (pembrolizumab or nivolumab) and 3432 treated with ICI and platinum doublet chemotherapy. Patients were aged 74 years, on average, and at least 66 years. The median follow-up duration was 211 days. The team weighed the risks and benefits of chemoimmunotherapy vs stand-alone ICI to answer a key question: Is adding chemotherapy to ICI worth it for elderly patients with NSCLC? The findings were recently published in Jama Oncology . Benefits: Prolonged Survival in First Line In the upfront setting, chemotherapy add-on reduced patients' mortality risk by 34% compared with ICI alone. Benefits were slightly more notable in women (hazard ratio [HR], 0.62) than in men (HR, 0.72). Patients with autoimmune disease — who are often excluded from trials and who made up almost 20% of the study population — benefited the most, with a mortality risk reduction of 49%. A similar mortality benefit was observed in patients aged 66-75 years and those aged 76 years or older, 'which is notable given that immune senescence is hypothesized to lessen ICI treatment response in patients older than 75 years,' wrote the investigators, led by James Heyward, PhD, a pharmacoepidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore. However, in the second or later lines of treatment, patients did not experience a significant survival benefit with chemoimmunotherapy (HR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.68-1.03). Risks: Increased Toxicity Adding chemotherapy in the first-line setting increased the risk for severe immune-related adverse events (AEs), which can include pneumonitis, colitis, hepatitis, and myocarditis, by 18%. Severe AEs were more common in men (HR, 1.29) than in women (HR, 1.08). Patients aged 76 years or older had the highest risk (30%) for severe immune-related AEs. However, older patients did not have an increased risk for severe immune-related AEs in second and later lines. The study did not consider chemotherapy toxicities. Is It Worth It? The team extrapolated from their data to calculate the harm-benefit trade-off of adding ICI to chemotherapy in older patients. The researchers found that for each extra year of life gained with first-line chemoimmunotherapy, the risk for severe immune-related AEs would be 0.31. Put differently, 31% of patients predicted to gain 1 extra year of life were likely to experience one severe immune-related AE. Past studies have found that patients are often willing to accept one severe AE for 1 year of added survival, which indicates that chemoimmunotherapy in the first line may be worth it for older patients with NSCLC. 'Given patient prioritization of survival benefits vs prevention of adverse effects, patients may prefer to initiate treatment with ICI + chemotherapy, albeit with careful follow-up for mitigation of severe immune-related AEs,' the investigators wrote. But, the authors noted, 'men experienced more harm and less benefit than women' in the first-line setting, which is consistent with previous research. And patients with an autoimmune disorder who received chemoimmunotherapy had a slightly higher risk for severe immune-related AEs (HR, 1.22) than those without a disorder (HR, 1.16). Still, the authors said, 'the reduction in mortality was also the highest for this group of patients, suggesting that the potential benefits of treatment may outweigh the potential harms.' In the second and later lines, the researchers found no increased risk for immune-related AEs with chemoimmunotherapy. Given the lack of statistically significant mortality benefit, the results suggest that stand-alone ICI are a better approach in this setting. Overall, this study provides 'a valuable contribution to an ongoing and complex discussion,' said medical oncologist Alessio Cortellini, MD, PhD, an immunotherapy and lung cancer specialist at Imperial College London, London, England, who was not involved in the research. However, it will be important to closely monitor patients for severe immune-related AEs. 'While adding chemotherapy to immunotherapy may be appropriate for selected older adults with NSCLC, I remain cautious about its widespread use in frail patients,' Cortellini added. 'Until we have dedicated trials in frail populations, the decision to use [chemotherapy-ICI]combinations in older adults should be highly individualized.'
Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Sanu Dieng-Cooper declares victory Newport News Treasurer primary by 85 votes
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — While Sanu Dieng-Cooper has declared victory in her race to be the Democratic nominee for Treasurer this November, her race is currently in the margin for a possible recount. With all precincts reporting, the current policy director for the Virginia Sexual & Domestic Violence Action Alliance has an 85 vote lead over Derek Reason. Both are vying to be the Democrat that replaces longtime treasurer Marty Eubank, who announced his intention to retire after leading the office for seven terms. Given that more than 12,100 voters participated in Tuesday's primary, the less than 1% margin may give Reason the right to ask for a recount, pending the outcome of provisional ballots cast. As of Wednesday afternoon, Dieng-Cooper said Reason hadn't called to concede. 'I'm excited. This was a win for the people,' Dieng-Cooper said. 'We heard their voices in each and every vote. I know people always wonder, 'does my vote matter?' And I think that this is a race that tells folks everything. Single vote and voice matters.' The electoral board is expected to meet Monday for the provisional count. 'We are confident that we have won this, race and look forward to November,' Dieng-Cooper said. Reason did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Unlike the Commonwealth's Attorney primary, where Shannon Jones is now running unopposed in November, Dieng-Cooper still faces an independent challenger and could have faced two. Longtime Newport News Treasurer Marty Eubank endorsed Dieng-Cooper. However, he ended up filing paperwork to run for reelection as an independent, in the case Dieng-Cooper didn't win the primary. He said he made that decision after hearing comments at the NAACP candidates forum. 'I am trying only to position myself [just] in case,' Eubank told 10 On Your Side. 'Elections can be unpredictable. In the event that 1% off the chance the Sanu is not elected. I will be here to protect this office.' Dieng-Cooper said Eubank plans to bow out of the race. 'I've been in touch with him last night and this morning and he is he is excited,' Dieng-Cooper said. 'For him to have done his due diligence and make sure that I was qualified and had the best intentions for Newport News residents, I truly appreciate that he did his research and, put his full support behind me.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
News24
24 minutes ago
- News24
Trump vows ‘comprehensive and thorough vetting' for foreign students in US universities
US President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday ordered the resumption of student visa appointments but will significantly tighten its social media vetting in a bid to identify any applicants who may be hostile towards the US, according to an internal State Department cable reviewed by Reuters. US consular officers are now required to conduct a "comprehensive and thorough vetting" of all student and exchange visitor applicants to identify those who "bear hostile attitudes toward our citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles," said the cable, which was dated 18 June and sent to US missions on Wednesday. On 27 May, the Trump administration ordered its missions abroad to stop scheduling new appointments for student and exchange visitor visa applicants, saying the State Department was set to expand social media vetting of foreign students. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said updated guidance would be released once a review was completed. The cable dated 18 June, which was sent by Rubio and sent to all US diplomatic missions, directed officers to look for "applicants who demonstrate a history of political activism, especially when it is associated with violence or with the views and activities described above, you must consider the likelihood they would continue such activity in the United States". The cable, which was first reported by Free Press, also authorised the consular officers to ask the applicants to make all of their social media accounts public. "Remind the applicant that limited access to... online presence could be construed as an effort to evade or hide certain activity," the cable said. The move follows the administration's enhanced vetting measures last month for visa applicants looking to travel to Harvard University for any purpose, in what a separate State Department cable said would serve as a pilot programme for wider expanded screening. Online presence The new vetting process should include a review of the applicant's entire online presence and not just social media activity, the cable said, urging the officers to use any "appropriate search engines or other online resources". During the vetting, the directive asks officers to look for any potentially derogatory information about the applicant. "For example, during an online presence search, you might discover on social media that an applicant endorsed Hamas or its activities," the cable says, adding that may be a reason for ineligibility. Rubio, Trump's top diplomat and national security adviser, has said he has revoked the visas of hundreds, perhaps thousands of people, including students, because they got involved in activities that he said went against US foreign policy priorities. Those activities include support for Palestinians and criticism of Israel's conduct in the war in Gaza. A Tufts University student from Turkey was held for over six weeks in an immigration detention centre in Louisiana after co-writing an opinion piece criticising her school's response to Israel's war in Gaza. She was released from custody after a federal judge granted her bail. Trump's critics have said the administration's actions are an attack on free speech rights under the First Amendment of the US Constitution. Fewer appointments? While the new directive allows posts to resume scheduling for student and exchange visa applicants, it is warning the officers that there may have to be fewer appointments due to the demands of more extensive vetting. "Posts should consider overall scheduling volume and the resource demands of appropriate vetting; posts might need to schedule fewer FMJ cases than they did previously," the cable said, referring to the relevant visa types. READ | Foreign students want to transfer from Harvard over Trump 'fear, concern, and confusion' The directive has also asked posts to prioritise among expedited visa appointments of foreign-born physicians participating in a medical programme through exchange visas, as well as student applicants looking to study in a US university where international students constitute less than 15% of the total. At Harvard, the oldest and wealthiest US university on which the administration has launched a multifront attack by freezing its billions of dollars of grants and other funding, foreign students last year made up about 27% of the total student population. The cable is asking the overseas posts to implement these vetting procedures within five business days.
