A large, national study finds veterans diagnosed with cancer face a suicide attempt rate of 203 per 100,000 — significantly higher than the general population — with risk peaking in the first six months after diagnosis and remaining elevated for up to five years, even for those with more treatable cancers. Donald Sullivan, M.D., says, “Our findings really show that suicide risk doesn’t end when treatment ends. For some patients, especially younger veterans and those with certain cancers, the risk remains elevated for years.”

Oregon’s kindergarten vaccination rate drops to a record low of 85.6% for the 2025–26 school year, while the nonmedical exemption rate hit a record high of 10.9%, raising public health concerns about potential measles and whooping cough outbreaks. Alanna Braun, M.D., says, “The thing that really stands out to me the most is just sort of the trend of just ongoing decreased immunization rates across our state and seeing how many schools here in Oregon are now at risk for major outbreaks of some really serious illnesses.”

While 62% of gun deaths nationally are suicides, in Oregon that figure is 80%, and Katie Iossi, M.D., and Becca Valek, M.S.P.H., discuss with OPB Think Out Loud what can be done to address this disproportionate rate, which is especially high in rural areas among older men. Valek says, “Suicide is a complex public health issue, and there's no one cause nor one solution. But research has identified some factors that contribute to elevated suicide rates. ... Oregon ranks pretty low in terms of mental health care access. In a 2024 report, 32 of our 36 counties had less than one mental health care provider per 1,000 residents in a county.”

In PR Newswire, GRAIL announces its PATHFINDER 2 study of more than 35,000 participants found that adding the Galleri multi-cancer early detection blood test to standard screenings increased screen-detected cancers up to 6.5-fold, with 71% of newly detected cancers in the earlier Stages I–III. Nima Nabavizadeh, M.D., says, “As an oncologist, I have seen too many patients diagnosed only after their cancer has spread, when treatment decisions become more difficult. By helping find more cancers earlier, when more treatment options may be available, there is great potential for multi-cancer early detection to transform cancer screening.”

At a media availability, Maria Rodriguez, M.D., and Shereef Elnahal, M.D., highlight the impacts that state abortion bans have on patients, including a recent study that finds patients in ban states are more likely to receive only misoprostol to manage abortions, rather than the safer and more effective mifepristone-misoprostol combination. Rodriguez says, “We can’t restrict one area of reproductive health care without there being far-reaching impacts.”

Mother Jones reports that multiple studies, including OHSU research on 2020 Oregon wildfire smoke exposure during IVF treatment, found that patients whose embryos developed during periods of hazardous air were far more likely to have no viable embryos for transfer, while separate research found wildfire smoke linked to declines in sperm concentration and motile sperm count.

Oregon’s kindergarten vaccination rate drops to a record low of 85.6% for the 2025–26 school year, while the nonmedical exemption rate hit a record high of 10.9%, raising public health concerns about potential measles and whooping cough outbreaks. Alanna Braun, M.D., says, “The thing that really stands out to me the most is just sort of the trend of just ongoing decreased immunization rates across our state and seeing how many schools here in Oregon are now at risk for major outbreaks of some really serious illnesses.”

At a media availability, Maria Rodriguez, M.D., and Shereef Elnahal, M.D., highlight the impacts that state abortion bans have on patients, including a recent study that finds patients in ban states are more likely to receive only misoprostol to manage abortions, rather than the safer and more effective mifepristone-misoprostol combination. Rodriguez says, “We can’t restrict one area of reproductive health care without there being far-reaching impacts.”

The American Hospital Association highlights a multicenter study, led by Doernbecher, that found that enhanced infection prevention measures in NICUs — including universal masking, stricter hand hygiene, and visitor health screenings — reduced viral infection rates among infants from 0.8% to 0.3% across 12 NICUs in the U.S. and Canada.

In a column for AAOS Now, Kathryn Schabel, M.D., outlines lessons learned over a decade of participating in CMS bundled payment programs for joint replacement, emphasizing that success depends on standardized care pathways, preoperative optimization, patient navigation and genuine surgeon leadership.