Read AMA Morning Rounds®’ most popular stories in medicine and public health from the week of Dec. 8, 2025–Dec. 12, 2025.
Advisory committee votes to end recommendation that all newborns get hepatitis B vaccine
The AP (12/5, Stobbe) reported, “A federal vaccine advisory committee voted on Friday to end the longstanding recommendation that all U.S. babies get the hepatitis B vaccine on the day they’re born.” The “advisory committee decided to recommend the birth dose only for babies whose mothers test positive, and in cases where the mom wasn’t tested. For other babies, it will be up to the parents and their doctors to decide if a birth dose is appropriate.”
The New York Times (12/5, A1, Mandavilli) reported that “the committee did not change the recommendation that newborns of mothers known to be infected or whose status is unknown be immunized. The shift is not expected to affect insurance coverage of the shots.”
The Hill (12/5, Venkat) reported that in a statement, AMA trustee Sandra Adamson Fryhofer, MD, said, “The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice’s (ACIP) vote to weaken the birth-dose recommendation for the Hepatitis B vaccine is reckless and undermines decades of public confidence in a proven, lifesaving vaccine.” She added, “Today’s action is not based on scientific evidence, disregards data supporting the effectiveness of the Hepatitis B vaccine, and creates confusion for parents about how best to protect their newborns.”
GLP-1 use has “little or no effect” on risk of developing obesity-related cancers, review suggests
NBC News (12/8, Leake) reports a systematic review and meta-analysis suggests that GLP-1 drugs “probably have little or no effect” on a patient’s risk of developing one of 13 obesity-related cancers. The research team “reviewed 48 randomized controlled trials with a combined 94,245 patients who had Type 2 diabetes, overweight or obesity. Of those, more than 51,000 took a GLP-1 medication, while nearly 43,000 took a placebo.” Overall, they found “with moderate certainty, that GLP-1 drugs had little or no effect on the risk of developing four types of obesity-related cancers: breast, kidney, thyroid and pancreatic cancers,” while the “findings were similar for eight other obesity-related cancers...but with low certainty.” Meanwhile, “the effect of GLP-1s on the risk of gastric cancer was’ very uncertain,’ the authors wrote.” The review was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
You may also be interested in: GLP-1s and macular degeneration: Is there a link?
FDA to investigate whether COVID-19 vaccines are linked to deaths of adults
The Washington Post (12/9, Gilbert, Roubein) reports the FDA “is investigating whether coronavirus vaccines are linked to deaths of adults, part of an investigation that has alleged children died as a result of the shots, federal health officials said Tuesday.” HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said, “FDA is doing a thorough investigation, across multiple age groups, of deaths potentially related to coronavirus vaccines.” The FDA “also is reviewing safety of immunizations for RSV, according to manufacturers of the therapies who have been contacted by the FDA.”
Reuters (12/9, Sunny, Pandey) reports, “HHS did not immediately clarify what age groups will be included in the FDA probe.”
Heart disease risk is higher among women with uterine fibroids, study finds
NBC News (12/10, Leake) reports, “Heart disease has long been the top killer of women in the United States, but new research suggests uterine fibroids, which many may not even be aware they have, could be putting them at a significantly greater risk.” A “10-year study found that women with leiomyomas had an 81% higher long-term risk of heart disease than those without the common condition.” Women with fibroids “also had higher individual risks of cerebrovascular, coronary artery and peripheral artery diseases a decade after diagnosis.” The findings were published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Measles outbreaks spread in South Carolina, Utah, Arizona
The AP (12/11, Shastri) reports that “between Friday and Tuesday, South Carolina health officials confirmed 27 new measles cases in an outbreak in and around northwestern Spartanburg County. In two months, 111 people have been sickened by the vaccine-preventable virus.” So far, more than 250 people, including students from nine schools, “are in quarantine – some for the second time since the outbreak began in October. Most of the state’s new cases stemmed from exposures at Way of Truth Church in Inman.” Meanwhile, “in Arizona and Utah, an outbreak has ballooned since August. Mohave County, Arizona has logged 172 cases and the Southwest Utah Public Health Department has logged 82 cases.” Overall, Utah has confirmed 115 measles cases this year, while Arizona has confirmed 176.
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