A Controversial Hepatitis B Vaccine Study Championed by RFK Jr. Is Axed After Widespread Backlash - Rolling Stone

Investigators have developed and validated a clinical decision support tool to improve the diagnosis and treatment of chronic kidney disease (CKD) at the point of care. The research will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2026 October 22–25. Called Treat CKD, the tool draws on electronic health records data to identify CKD, classify risk by Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes criteria, calculate kidney failure risk using the Kidney Failure Risk Equation, estimate cardiovascular risk using American Heart Association PREVENT equations, and provide recommendations for albuminuria testing, blood pressure management, cholesterol-lowering therapy, cardio-kidney therapies, and nephrology referral.

Future pregnancy plans don’t preclude living kidney donation, but candidates should be counseled on gestational hypertension risk. Future pregnancy plans need not rule out living kidney donation, but candidates should be counseled on hypertensive risk. New data on pregnancy after living kidney donation give transplant teams clearer numbers to share with donor candidates who may want children in the future.¹In a matched cohort study from 3 Canadian provinces, presented at American Society of Nephrology (ASN) Kidney Week 2026 by Amit X. Garg, MD, PhD, and published simultaneously in JAMA, most donor pregnancies were uncomplicated, with a modest increase in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.¹ Will Donating a Kidney Affect Future Pregnancies? In 2024, more than 40,000 living kidney donations were reported across 88 countries.¹ For donors who may become pregnant later, Garg said the central question is whether donation will affect those pregnancies.

News|Videos|October 22, 2026 Chance, biology, and shared genetics may explain more small for gestational age births after living kidney donation. Small for gestational age births and shared donor-recipient genetics complicate the picture of pregnancy after living kidney donation. Investigators behind a new Canadian study of pregnancy after living kidney donation are weighing why donors had more small for gestational age (SGA) births than matched nondonors, and whether shared genetics with recipients could play a role.¹The matched cohort study, presented at American Society of Nephrology (ASN) Kidney Week 2026 by Amit X. Garg, MD, PhD, and published simultaneously in JAMA, spanned 3 provinces and also found a modest increase in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy among donors.¹ How Did the Study Compare Donors and Nondonors? Using linked administrative health databases from Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta, investigators compared 385 pregnancies in 252 living kidney donors with 1,540 matched pregnancies in 1,535 nondonors.¹ To reflect donors’ healthier baseline profile, nondonors with any of 35 conditions that would preclude donation were excluded.

Earlier this month, Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said the province had secured almost two million doses of this season’s flu vaccine and 1.5 million doses of an updated COVID-19 vaccine. Appointments began after Thanksgiving starting with people most at risk. “Vaccinations are the cornerstone of protection,” Dr. Muhammad Mukarram, a medical health officer at Interior Health added. “Last year as well, we had a small spike in the number of cases and once we started giving out immunizations and a major proportion of the population was vaccinated, the cases started to plateau.”According to the data, flu activity in B. C. was moderate with between 9.8 and 17.7 per cent of cases testing positive for the week ending Oct. 10. Flu activity in Alberta and the territories was low, while all other provinces were reporting very low flu activity. “These rates tend to fluctuate a lot. For example, tomorrow, you might find out that Ontario has more number of cases,” Mukarram added, noting B. C. rates could be higher because more testing is taking place.

A sick person is shown in this file photo. Health Canada data shows flu season has arrived early in B. C., and pharmacists say symptoms are more severe this year.

News|Videos|October 22, 2026 A Canadian cohort found modestly greater preeclampsia risk after donation, though most pregnancies were uncomplicated. A Canadian matched cohort study weighs whether pregnancies after living kidney donation carry added hypertensive risk. About 65% of living kidney donors are female, and roughly 75% are of childbearing age at donation, making the effect of donation on future pregnancies a central question during donor evaluation.¹Presented at American Society of Nephrology (ASN) Kidney Week 2026 by Amit X. Garg, MD, PhD, and published simultaneously in JAMA, a new matched cohort study offers more precise estimates than earlier, smaller studies. Most donor pregnancies were uncomplicated, though investigators observed a modest increase in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.¹ Why Evaluate Pregnancy in Living Kidney Donors? For people with kidney failure, a living donor transplant improves both life expectancy and quality of life, but transplant teams also have a responsibility to understand long-term outcomes for donors. Garg noted that consensus guidance from 2004 was reassuring that donor nephrectomy would not adversely affect future pregnancies.