WASHINGTON—Healthcare professionals performing minimally invasive procedures in fluoroscopy laboratories, often called “cath labs,” should no longer have to accept preventable radiation exposure and orthopedic injuries as part of their jobs, according to an expert consensus statement released today that is endorsed by six leading medical societies. 

Published today in JSCAI, the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology (JVIR), and JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions, “SCAI/ASE/HRS/SIR/SVS Expert Consensus Statement on Enhanced Radiation Protection: Time for Mandatory and Urgent Action” calls for hospitals, manufacturers, regulators, and professional societies to immediately adopt enhanced radiation protection technologies, modernize radiation safety standards, and strengthen monitoring and reporting practices to better protect the healthcare teams working in fluoroscopy laboratories. 

Given the availability of safer technologies, the authors say broader implementation of enhanced radiation protection devices (ERPDs) is both an ethical responsibility and a necessary evolution of ALARA (“As Low As Reasonably Achievable”), the longstanding radiation safety standard that exposures should be kept “as low as reasonably achievable.” 

In a new letter, PLOS provides comments on the proposal to revise the OMB Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance located in title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), subtitle A. The proposed changes have significant consequences for open science, public access and the integrity of the research record.

A report developed through the EU Science Service for Biodiversity identifies hydrological regime as the key determinant of ecosystem condition in both inland peatlands and coastal lagoons and warns that degradation of these habitat types can turn long-term carbon sinks into net sources of greenhouse gas emissions.

DFG Senate working group outlines threat scenarios in new position paper and puts forward options for action for researchers, the research ecosystem and other stakeholders

A new study in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports found that adults with disabilities received AUD diagnoses at more than three times the rate of adults without disabilities between 2016-2023. Adults with serious mental illness, such as severe depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder, had the highest rates of AUD at more than 10 times the rate of non-disabled adults. Adults with acquired brain injuries, such as traumatic brain injury and stroke, had the second-highest rates of AUD, at over 5 times the rate of non-disabled adults. Importantly, adults with all types of disabilities had higher rates of AUD than adults without disabilities. 

How do journalists act as watchdogs of science? New qualitative research led by University of Amsterdam media scholar Alice Fleerackers sheds light on the labour‑intensive nature of watchdog science journalism, a form of critical journalism that scrutinises science. It shows that practical feasibility sometimes takes precedence over public interest when deciding whether or not to run a story, particularly in newsrooms with limited resources. The findings, recently published in Science Communication, underscore the precarity of a form of journalism that is essential for public trust in science, yet operates under severe pressure.