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Daily Archives: May 18, 2023

Male GPs in England less likely to refer patients for IVF, report finds

Survey shows wide discrepancies between NICE guidelines and GP responses and ‘utter confusion’ on eligibility criteria

Male GPs are less likely to refer eligible patients for IVF, research by a fertility charity suggests, raising concerns about access to NHS-funded treatment.

The Progress Educational Trust’s (PET) report highlights “utter confusion” and a lack of knowledge among GPs about eligibility criteria for NHS-funded treatment, which it says is exacerbating the so-called IVF postcode lottery. GPs typically make the initial referral to fertility clinics, meaning that they play a crucial role in access.

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Black Flies review – Sean Penn paramedic drama tries to grapple the horror

Fresh-faced rookie Tye Sheridan is led through a world of medical grimness by a grizzled Penn in a tale full of lifeless cliche

There are some strident cliches alongside redundant self-harming machismo in this sub-Schraderesque movie about New York paramedics, directed by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire and adapted from the novel by Shannon Burke. Sirens screaming and faces emoting, they battle through another dark-night-of-the-soul as they deal with gang shootings, domestic assaults, homeless people dying and crack addicts giving birth in hovels. They are often assigned the futile chore of attending to corpses discovered in decaying buildings, surrounded by black flies – but aren’t all the other patients just corpses in waiting? And so the black flies of horror start buzzing into their brains.

Tye Sheridan co-stars as Ollie, the standard-issue Hollywood rookie, a fresh-faced young ambulance guy from Colorado (of all the poignantly innocent places) paired in time-honoured style with a grizzled old-timer. This is the seen-it-all Gene Rutkovsky, appropriately nicknamed “Rut”, a veteran of a million horrors, including 9/11, played by Sean Penn. Fights break out among the guys back at the station house and Mike Tyson has a cameo as the grouchy chief who has to keep everyone in line.

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Delivery apps could help fight obesity by boosting low-calorie options, says study

Possible interventions include default smaller portions and prominently displaying low-calorie foods

Food delivery apps could help tackle the obesity crisis by making lower-calorie options more prominent on their sites, research suggests.

A study, presented at the European Congress of Obesity in Dublin, involved creating a simulated food delivery app and conducting three randomised controlled trials involving 23,783 adult participants.

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Title 42 Ends, Posing New Challenges to Migrants, Authorities

Since the COVID-era immigration policy known as Title 42 ended last week, the U.S. says it has sent thousands of people who have crossed into the U.S. irregularly back to Mexico or back home. But many immigrants who want to follow the rules say it is very difficult to apply for asylum. VOA’s Celia Mendoza reports. Camera: Celia Mendoza and Jesus Rosales