All of our Family Planning and WIC Clinics will be closed on Monday, May 27th, in honor of Memorial Day. The staff of Family Planning and WIC wish you a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend! Where ever you go, what ever you do, please take a minute to remember all the men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.
Continue reading6. February 2013
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Free Pregnancy Tests are now available at Family Planning Plus!
Reliable results within a few minutes
Complete unbiased options counseling and referrals to appropriate providers
Pregnancy confirmations to apply for Medicaid
Assessment to determine if you are eligible for other free or low-cost health care services
Though no appointment is needed, please call first to make sure we are open.
Lewisburg: (570) 523-3600
Selinsgrove: (570) 372-0637
Shamokin: (570) 648-0582
Lewistown: (717) 248-0175
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22. December 2009
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Since moving to this area from New York City a little more than a year ago, I have been astounded by the number of unintended pregnancies I have seen in my patients under 16 years of age.
Perhaps this shouldn’t be so surprising considering the most recent data out of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicating that births to teen girls ages 15 to 19 years increased by 3 percent. This is the first increase noted after the previous 14 years of decline.
Even more astonishing is the general lack of knowledge about sexuality and reproductive health I have encountered in my patients. CDC also has released new data in the last year about the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections among adolescents, especially adolescent girls.
It is now estimated that one in four girls ages 14 to 19 years has at least one STI. These recent findings highlight concerns about abstinence-only education programs and really demand a minimum standard for comprehensive sex education in our schools, as current legislation proposes.
I do not deny that abstinence is a healthy choice for…
Continue reading25. November 2009
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Published on FDA.gov (October 16, 2009)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved use of the vaccine Gardasil for the prevention of genital warts (condyloma acuminata) due to human papillomavirus (HPV) types 6 and 11 in boys and men, ages 9 through 26.
Each year, about 2 out of every 1,000 men in the United States are newly diagnosed with genital warts.
Gardasil currently is approved for use in girls and women ages 9 through 26 for the prevention of cervical, vulvar and vaginal cancer caused by HPV types 16 and 18; precancerous lesions caused by types 6, 11, 16, and 18; and genital warts caused by types 6 and 11.
HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States and most genital warts are caused by HPV infection.
“This vaccine is the first preventive therapy against genital warts in boys and men ages 9 through 26, and, as a result, fewer men will need to undergo treatment for genital warts,” said Karen Midthun, M.D., acting director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.
Gardasil’s effectiveness was studied in…
Continue reading25. November 2009
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Published on WorldPharmaNews.com (October 20, 2009)
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved CERVARIX® for the prevention of cervical pre-cancers and cervical cancer associated with oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18 for use in girls and young women (aged 10-25).
“The approval of Cervarix will bring an important new cervical cancer vaccine to girls and young women,” said Deirdre Connelly, President, North American Pharmaceuticals, GlaxoSmithKline. “Immunisation with a vaccine such as CERVARIX – along with annual doctor visits and Pap tests – will help protect women from cervical cancer, the second leading cause of cancer death in women in their twenties and thirties.”
CERVARIX was shown to be 93 percent efficacious in the prevention of cervical pre-cancers (cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 2+/ CIN 2+ or adenocarcinoma in situ) associated with HPV 16 or 18, in women without evidence of current infection with, or prior exposure to, the same HPV type at the time of vaccination. The majority (approximately 75 percent) of cervical cancers in North America…
Continue reading25. November 2009
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Article by GINA KOLATA, Published on NYTimes.com (November 22, 2009)
A few years ago, an independent group that issues guidelines on cancer screening decided to review its recommendations for breast cancer. It had last issued guidelines in 2002, but things had changed — there was new science and researchers had become more sophisticated in analyzing existing data.
So the group, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, started what it thought would be a straightforward job: gathering the newest science and asking about the benefits and risks of breast cancer screening, the best time to start and how often women should be screened.
The group ended up recommending that most women forgo routine mammograms in their 40s and test every other year instead of every year.
The response was swift and angry. Professional groups, like the American College of Radiology, advocacy groups, like the American Cancer Society, and politicians said the guidelines would deprive women of a life-saving test. And some said the guidelines were politically motivated to save money.
Panel members have been taken aback by the response. Their work seemed almost mundane, they…
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23. May 2013
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