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New Zealand court rules against anti-vax parents of ill baby
New Zealand court rules against anti-vax parents of ill baby

A New Zealand court temporarily took away medical custody of a baby from his parents on Wednesday after they refused blood transfusions for him unless the blood came from donors who were unvaccinated against COVID-19. The court's ruling in favor of health authorities places the 4-month-old boy into the guardianship of authorities until after he undergoes an urgently needed heart operation and recovers. High Court Judge Ian Gault said he accepted the affidavits of health experts who said there have been millions of blood transfusions performed around the world since coronavirus vaccines were introduced, and the vaccines hadn't caused any known harmful effects.

China eases COVID quarantine rules in major policy adjustment
China eases COVID quarantine rules in major policy adjustment

BEIJING (Reuters) -China's national health authority said on Wednesday that asymptomatic COVID-19 cases and people with mild symptoms can quarantine at home, in the strongest sign yet that China is preparing its people to live with the disease. Most cases of infection with the coronavirus are asymptomatic or mild with no special treatment required, the National Health Commission said in a statement. "Asymptomatic persons and mild cases can be isolated at home while strengthening health monitoring, and they can transfer to designated hospitals for treatment in a timely manner if their condition worsens," the NHC said.

China medical expert says COVID has mutated, should be renamed - state media
China medical expert says COVID has mutated, should be renamed - state media

China should change its official name for COVID-19 to reflect the virus' mutation, and patients with light symptoms should be allowed to quarantine at home, a leading authority on traditional Chinese medicine was quoted as saying on Wednesday. Gu Xiaohong told the state-run Beijing Daily newspaper that the coronavirus' Chinese name, which identifies it as a pneumonia-causing disease, should be changed to call it simply an infectious virus. China's approach to COVID - which has emphasised widespread testing and the quarantining of positive cases in specialised facilities - should change from "passive detection" to "active prevention", with recuperation at home for light cases.

E-cigarette maker Juul reaches settlement with nearly 10,000 plaintiffs
E-cigarette maker Juul reaches settlement with nearly 10,000 plaintiffs

Juul did not disclose the settlement amount as part of the settlement and court process in the federal multidistrict litigation and related JUUL Labs Product Cases. Philip Federico, a lawyer representing 60 school districts in the United States in the litigation against Juul, said the settlement is a "tremendous victory for school districts burdened by the vaping epidemic", adding that funds from it will allow school districts to recover the costs of combating the epidemic.

Young man
Young man's death leads to questions about Adderall prescription obtained online

Elijah Hanson told online provider Cerebral he needed help for ADHD, despite never having been previously diagnosed.

Drug deaths among pregnant women and new mothers hit a record high during the pandemic
Drug deaths among pregnant women and new mothers hit a record high during the pandemic

The number of pregnant women and new mothers dying from drug overdoses grew dramatically as the pandemic took hold, reaching a record high in 2020, a new study

Frozen raspberries recalled due to potential hepatitis A contamination
Frozen raspberries recalled due to potential hepatitis A contamination

Exportadora Copramar voluntarily recalled 1,260 cases of frozen raspberries sold under the James Farm brand.

EU regulator backs bivalent COVID shots for primary vaccination
EU regulator backs bivalent COVID shots for primary vaccination

The recommendation is based on data which shows that primary vaccination with the adapted bivalent vaccines should give rise to a broad immune response in people who have not yet been exposed to or vaccinated against COVID-19, the agency added. The EMA said it also studied the immune response in unvaccinated people after natural infection with Omicron BA.4/5 strains of the virus.

Foundations, major donors tackle nation
Foundations, major donors tackle nation's nursing shortage

As more nurses leave their jobs in hospitals and health-care centers, foundations are pouring millions of dollars into efforts to ensure that more stay in the profession and get more out of the job than just the applause and pats on the back they got during the bleakest days of the pandemic. - A $125 million donation in February from Leonard Lauder, heir to the Estee Lauder cosmetics fortune, to the University of Pennsylvania to create a tuition-free program that eventually will train 40 nurses a year. - In June, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation added $3.8 million to its Future of Nursing campaign, a 10-year effort run with AARP and the AARP Foundation that has made nearly $70 million...

Pfizer partners with Clear Creek Bio to develop oral COVID-19 drug
Pfizer partners with Clear Creek Bio to develop oral COVID-19 drug

Charlotte Allerton, Pfizer's chief scientific officer, said COVID-19 has "the potential to remain a global health concern for years to come". Pfizer already has a COVID antiviral pill Paxlovid, which the drugmaker expects to generate about $22 billion in revenue this year.

Price hikes for some Medicare therapies unsupported by clinical benefits data - Report
Price hikes for some Medicare therapies unsupported by clinical benefits data - Report

The three costliest therapies under Medicare health insurance in the United States saw price hikes in 2020 but there was not enough evidence of new clinical benefits, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) said on Tuesday. Horizon Therapeutics' gout treatment Krystexxa's list price increased by 12%, which led to an additional out-of-pocket expense of $3,210 per patient being spent on average. The ICER, a group that reviews the value of medicines, said drugmakers hiked prices on seven of the 10 costliest prescription drugs in 2021 too, without enough clinical evidence justifying the hike.

For the Uninsured, COVID Care Has Entered a New Stage of Crisis
For the Uninsured, COVID Care Has Entered a New Stage of Crisis

WASHINGTON - When Mandy Alderman caught the coronavirus in June for a second time, she hoped her usual primary care physician could prescribe a monoclonal antibody treatment or Paxlovid, the antiviral pill that has been shown to reduce the severity of an infection. But without health insurance, she could not afford a visit. Alderman, 44, a former medical assistant in Lawrenceville, Georgia, found a doctor willing to prescribe a cocktail of other drugs, but not the proven COVID-19 medications she

Hospital shutdown spurs questions about private equity in health care
Hospital shutdown spurs questions about private equity in health care

A for-profit California company saw windfall dividend - and patients scrambled for care, a CBS News investigation found.

CDC Chief Shares
CDC Chief Shares 'Good News' About This Year's Flu Vaccine

Dr. Rochelle Walensky said this year's shot is a "very good match" for the influenza strain that's circulating.

Many kids are struggling. Is special education the answer?
Many kids are struggling. Is special education the answer?

The COVID-19 pandemic sent Heidi Whitney's daughter into a tailspin. Suddenly the San Diego middle schooler was sleeping all day and awake all night. As she started high school this fall, she was deemed eligible for special education services, because her disorders interfered with her ability to learn, but school officials said it was a close call.

Doctors warn flu season is
Doctors warn flu season is 'fierce' and is getting worse. Here's what to know.

Amid the "tripledemic" of influenza, RSV and COVID, doctors say the flu is getting worse. Here's what to know about cases, symptoms and the vaccine.

Few Chinese keen to travel abroad soon, even if COVID curbs ease -report
Few Chinese keen to travel abroad soon, even if COVID curbs ease -report

Mainland China retains some of the world's most stringent measures on PCR testing and quarantine for international travellers, despite some domestic easing of curbs after last month's unprecedented COVID protests. Fear of infection with the disease was the top concern of those saying they would postpone travel in a survey of 4,000 consumers in China by consultancy Oliver Wyman, with worries about changes to domestic re-entry guidelines in second place. "People have become cautious," said Imke Wouters, a retail and consumer goods partner at the firm.

Pfizer, BioNTech countersue Moderna over COVID-19 vaccine patents
Pfizer, BioNTech countersue Moderna over COVID-19 vaccine patents

(Reuters) -Pfizer Inc and its German partner, BioNTech SE, fired back at Moderna Inc on Monday in a patent lawsuit over their rival COVID-19 vaccines, seeking dismissal of the lawsuit in Boston federal court and an order that Moderna's patents are invalid and not infringed. Moderna first sued Pfizer in August, accusing the company of violating its rights in three patents related to innovations that Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Moderna said it pioneered before the COVID-19 pandemic. Moderna has also filed a related lawsuit against Pfizer and BioNTech in Germany.

People lost more weight when they were offered cash incentives
People lost more weight when they were offered cash incentives

Offering cash incentives in addition to weight loss counseling and support helped people lose more weight, a study in JAMA Internal Medicine finds.

Factbox-What does Elon Musk
Factbox-What does Elon Musk's brain chip company Neuralink do?

Here is more on what Neuralink does. Founded in 2016 by Musk and a group of engineers, Neuralink is building a brain chip interface that can be implanted within the skull, which it says could eventually help disabled patients to move and communicate again, and also restore vision. Neuralink's device has a chip that processes and transmits neural signals that could be transmitted to devices like a computer or a phone.

Flu shots are a "very good match" to this season
Flu shots are a "very good match" to this season's strains, CDC says

Health officials are redoubling calls for Americans to get vaccinated, with flu shots lagging previous seasons.

Fact check: Post claiming COVID-19 and flu viruses are same misrepresents at-home test kit
Fact check: Post claiming COVID-19 and flu viruses are same misrepresents at-home test kit

Fanttest's antigen kit tests for COVID-19 and influenza A/B separately using the same nasal swab. The illnesses are caused by different viruses.

Herschel Walker had ties to two charities that appear to have engaged in little, if any charity
Herschel Walker had ties to two charities that appear to have engaged in little, if any charity

Records indicate Herschel Walker spent years serving as a pitchman for two nonprofit charity groups that didn't live up to their promises.

Pelicans dying as bird flu outbreak spreads to Venezuela
Pelicans dying as bird flu outbreak spreads to Venezuela

An outbreak of bird flu in pelicans has authorities in Venezuela taking emergency efforts to protect poultry producers. Numerous pelicans were found dead over the weekend along Venezuela's coast as the species arrived amid their annual winter migration. Other outbreaks among pelicans prompted bird flu alerts in Peru and Ecuador.

Rising flu cases drive up U.S. hospitalizations, CDC says
Rising flu cases drive up U.S. hospitalizations, CDC says

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States is experiencing the highest levels of hospitalizations from influenza that it has seen in a decade for this time of year, the head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Monday, adding that 14 children have died so far this flu season. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky added that U.S. hospital systems also continue to be stressed with a high number of patients with other respiratory illnesses such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and COVID-19.

Ashton Kutcher on his struggles with vasculitis: "Suddenly, you can
Ashton Kutcher on his struggles with vasculitis: "Suddenly, you can't see"

Ashton Kutcher recently opened up about the symptoms of vasculitis that suddenly disrupted his life.

China makes shift in its COVID restrictions, World Cup continues on: 5 Things podcast
China makes shift in its COVID restrictions, World Cup continues on: 5 Things podcast

China's strictly enforced zero-COVID policy, appears to be shifting after 3 years, a look at the remaining World Cup teams: 5 Things podcast

Shorter days affect the mood of millions of Americans - a nutritional neuroscientist offers tips on how to avoid the winter blues
Shorter days affect the mood of millions of Americans - a nutritional neuroscientist offers tips on how to avoid the winter blues

For those prone to seasonal affective disorder, a shift in the sleep cycle can impact energy levels. Ben Akiba/E+ via Getty ImagesThe annual pattern of winter depression and melancholy - better known as seasonal affective disorder, or SAD - suggests a strong link between your mood and the amount of light you get during the day. To put it simply: The less light exposure one has, the more one's mood may decline. Wintertime blues are common, but about 10 million Americans are affected every year by

Pharma
Pharma's expensive gaming of the drug patent system is successfully countered by the Medicines Patent Pool, which increases global access and rewards innovation

Biomedical innovation reached a new era during the COVID-19 pandemic as drug development went into overdrive. But the ways that brand companies license their patented drugs grant them market monopoly, preventing other entities from making generics so they can exclusively profit. This significantly limits the reach of lifesaving drugs, especially to low- and middle-income countries, or LMICs. I am an economist who studies innovation and digitization in health care markets. Growing up in a develop

Images of darker skin are absent from medical texts. Dermatologists are changing that.
Images of darker skin are absent from medical texts. Dermatologists are changing that.

Skin of color is underrepresented in medical training and textbooks, which can lead to missed diagnoses and inequities in care.

Ukrainians hid orphaned children from Russian deportation
Ukrainians hid orphaned children from Russian deportation

Hours after Russia invaded Ukraine in February, health staff at a children's hospital in the south started secretly planning how to save the babies. Russians were suspected of seizing orphan children and sending them to Russia, so staff at the children's regional hospital in Kherson city began fabricating orphans' medical records to make it appear like they were too ill to move. "We deliberately wrote false information that the children were sick and could not be transported," said Dr. Olga Pilyarska, head of intensive care.

Oil prices surge as OPEC maintains production cut targets and China
Oil prices surge as OPEC maintains production cut targets and China's thawing Covid-zero stance sparks hope of demand recovery

OPEC said on Sunday it would stick to the oil production target the group set in October - to slash output by 2 million barrels per day.

Reverse vaccination technique in mice suggests new way to teach the immune system not to attack lifesaving treatments
Reverse vaccination technique in mice suggests new way to teach the immune system not to attack lifesaving treatments

Reverse vaccination teaches the immune system to ignore rather than attack self-proteins. Christoph Burgstedt/Science Photo Library via Getty ImagesAutoimmune conditions like Type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis arise when an immune system mistakenly attacks its own body's proteins, cells and organs. Not only do these conditions make the body attack itself, they can also destroy the medications intended to treat them. A reverse vaccination approach my research team and I

Weight loss treatment is on the verge of transformation. It
Weight loss treatment is on the verge of transformation. It's not there yet. Here's why.

New anti-obesity medicines like Wegovy promise dramatic weight loss, but there's a long way to go to make them accessible to those who need them.

Looking for a fountain of youth? Look no further than fruits, veggies and whole grains
Looking for a fountain of youth? Look no further than fruits, veggies and whole grains

Ponce de León came to Florida in 1513 searching for the fountain of youth. He didn't find it but that does not stop tourists in St. Augustine from searching for the elusive elixir of youth.

Beijing, Shenzhen loosen more COVID curbs as China fine-tunes policy
Beijing, Shenzhen loosen more COVID curbs as China fine-tunes policy

SHANGHAI (Reuters) -Beijing residents on Saturday cheered the removal of COVID-19 testing booths while Shenzhen said it would no longer require commuters to present test results to travel, as an easing of China's virus curbs gathered pace. Although daily cases are near all-time highs, some cities are taking steps to loosen COVID testing requirements and quarantine rules as China looks to make its zero-COVID policy more targeted amid a sharp economic slowdown and public frustration that has boiled over into unrest. The southern city of Shenzhen announced it would no longer require people to show a negative COVID test result to use public transport or enter parks, following similar moves...

Flu hospitalization rate nearly doubled during Thanksgiving week, CDC reports
Flu hospitalization rate nearly doubled during Thanksgiving week, CDC reports

CDC flu report shows the U.S. is in the midst of one of the earliest and most virulent influenza seasons on record. Hospitalizations for flu doubled during Thanksgiving week.

U.K. officials issue warning after 6 children die of Strep A infections
U.K. officials issue warning after 6 children die of Strep A infections

Health officials have seen higher numbers of cases caused by Group A streptococci, bacteria that can cause respiratory and skin infections including strep throat, impetigo and scarlet fever.

US plans end to mpox public health emergency in January
US plans end to mpox public health emergency in January

The federal government plans to end in January the public health emergency it declared earlier this year after an outbreak of mpox infected more than 29,000 people across the U.S. Mpox cases have plummeted in recent weeks, with just a handful of new infections being reported every week in the month of November, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The public health emergency is expected to end in January, said Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra in a statement.

United States to end mpox emergency declaration
United States to end mpox emergency declaration

The months-long declaration was meant to tackle the largest-ever outbreak of cases in the country. The move signals that the crisis, which led to a spate of cases mostly among men who have sex with men, has come under control and would no longer require an emergency status meant to shore up funding and tools to fight the disease. "Given the low number of cases today, HHS does not expect that it needs to renew the emergency declaration when it ends on January 31, 2023," U.S. Health Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement on Friday.

Flu season worsens as 44 states report high activity
Flu season worsens as 44 states report high activity

Health officials said Friday that 7.5% of outpatient medical visits last week were due to flu-like illnesses. The annual winter flu season usually doesn't get going until December or January, but this one began early and has been complicated by the simultaneous spread of other viruses. Other years also didn't have this year's unusually strong wave of RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, a common cause of cold-like symptoms that can be serious for infants and the elderly.

Deaths From Substance Abuse Rose Sharply Among Older Americans in 2020
Deaths From Substance Abuse Rose Sharply Among Older Americans in 2020

Deaths due to substance abuse, particularly of alcohol and opioids, rose sharply among older Americans in 2020, the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, as lockdowns disrupted routines and isolation and fear spread, federal health researchers reported Wednesday. Alcohol and opioid deaths remained far less common among older people than among those middle-aged and younger, and rates had been rising in all groups for years. But the pronounced uptick - another data point in the long list of pand

An influencer wanted a
An influencer wanted a 'Brazilian butt lift.' She ended up at the hospital 'covered in blood.'

Rachel Velasco remembers walking into the emergency room at Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles last year "screaming and covered in blood" at 3 a.m.

Nurses
Nurses' attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination for their children are highly influenced by partisanship, a new study finds

As of Nov. 30, 2022, 62.5% of children and adolescents are unvaccinated against COVID-19. South_agency/E+ via Getty ImagesThe Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea Children of nurses who identify as Republican are less likely to receive a COVID-19 vaccination compared with children of nurses who identify as Democrat, according to our recently published study in the Journal of Community Health. We surveyed more than 1,000 nurses in South Dakota in June and J

The more pandemic precautions fall away, the more COVID risk is concentrated on this one group
The more pandemic precautions fall away, the more COVID risk is concentrated on this one group

When everyone around them stops taking pandemic precautions, it gets harder for immunocompromised Americans to protect themselves against COVID.

Children of color are less likely to undergo elective surgery. What does this mean?
Children of color are less likely to undergo elective surgery. What does this mean?

The research shows children of color could be suffering amid delays in important surgical interventions, experts say.

New documentary shows how maternal health crisis disproportionately hits Black women
New documentary shows how maternal health crisis disproportionately hits Black women

Story at a glance The documentary, Birthing Justice, centers on the experiences of Black women and families as they navigate the joys and fears of being pregnant. The project, along with the work of Black women across the country, is the chance for people to listen to Black women and come together to create better…

Chinese cities ease COVID curbs as virus keeps spreading
Chinese cities ease COVID curbs as virus keeps spreading

BEIJING (Reuters) -Some communities in Chinese cities where COVID-19 is still spreading are easing off on testing requirements and quarantine rules ahead of an expected shift in virus policies nationwide after widespread social unrest. The uneven relaxation of COVID restrictions is, however, fuelling fear among some residents who suddenly feel more exposed to a disease authorities had consistently described as deadly until this week. Pharmacies in Beijing say purchases of N95 masks, which offer a much higher degree of protection than the single-use surgical type, have gone up this week.

"Music is their language": school gives autistic Chinese youth a voice
"Music is their language": school gives autistic Chinese youth a voice

Almost three years of pandemic restrictions have been hard for 23-year-old Chinese villager Zu Wenbao, but thanks to Beijing-based Chen's Studio, music has become his saving grace. Zu is one of the 14 million people in China who have autism spectrum disorder, a developmental disability caused by differences in the brain. Despite laws to ensure the integration of people with autism, many in China know little about the disorder and support remains lacking, experts say.

U.S. FDA declines to approve Y-mAbs
U.S. FDA declines to approve Y-mAbs's pediatric cancer drug

Y-mAbs said it is assessing the implications of the Food and Drug Administration's complete response letter (CRL) and the company's plans for the drug's development program. The FDA's decision follows a unanimous vote by its advisers in October against the drug, omburtamab, to treat neuroblastoma due to insufficient evidence that it improves overall survival. "We are disappointed but not surprised based on the outcome of the (FDA advisory panel) meeting," interim Chief Executive Officer Thomas Gad said in a statement.

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