Four people who were potentially exposed to hepatitis B and C and HIV during surgeries have filed a class action lawsuit against Providence and an anesthesiology group claiming their negligence has caused pain and anxiety. The four patients underwent surgeries at Providence Willamette Falls Medical Center in Oregon City between 2022 and 2024. Providence sent notices on July 11 to about 2,200 patients saying the physician who administered anesthesia “failed to adhere to infection control procedures,” which exposed patients to hepatitis and HIV. Providence encouraged the patients to be tested. The Oregon Anesthesiology Group physician was fired following an investigation. The lawsuit said the experience has caused pain and anxiety, and they are seeking damages.
- July 30, 2024
- 82°
Health
The U.S. will pay for flu shots for farmworkers to try to prevent bird flu from getting worse. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday announced it will spend $5 million to buy seasonal flu shots for livestock workers. Another $5 million will go towards promoting the shots. Dairy and poultry farms have been dealing with bird flu outbreak, and 13 workers have picked up mild infections. Health officials are worried about what might happen if people are infected with bird flu and seasonal flu at the same time. If that happens, it could change the bird flu into something more dangerous.
A growing number of women say they’ve tried to end their pregnancies on their own by doing things like taking herbs, drinking alcohol or even hitting themselves in the belly, a new study suggests. Researchers surveyed reproductive-age women in the U.S. before and after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022. The proportion who reported trying to end pregnancies by themselves rose from 2.4% to 3.3%. The study was published Tuesday in the journal JAMA Network Open. Study authors acknowledged that the increase is small but said it’s telling.
Most parts of France are enduring a heat wave mere days after the 2024 Olympics launched with a rain-soaked opening ceremony. The national weather agency says temperatures in Paris and surrounding areas hit 97 degrees Fahrenheit on Tuesday. Air conditioning is far less common in France than in places like the United States. It was even hotter in southern France. Misters are at some venues, while the Paris area’s train and is distributing water. The horses for equestrian competitions hung out in the shade and were sprayed with water. Some athletes say they're used to the heat and aren't too concerned.
With the Paris Games underway, officials are keeping a close eye on the water quality of the Seine River. Swimming has been off-limits in the long-polluted river for more than a century. But the city spent a lot of money trying to clean it up for swimming events during the Olympics. A monitoring group is taking daily tests to make sure the water is safe. They are testing for E. coli and other germs that could cause stomach and intestinal problems. Swimmers could inadvertently swallow the water or pick up infections through open cuts.
Concerns about the water quality in the Seine River led officials to call off the swimming portion of an Olympic triathlon training session for a second straight day. Organizers overseeing the event at the Paris Games are optimistic that triathletes will be able to swim in the city’s famed waterway when the competition starts Tuesday. The sport’s governing body, its medical team and city officials, are banking on sunny weather and higher temperatures to bring the levels of E. coli bacteria below the necessary limits to stage the swim portion of a race that also includes biking and running.
Wildfire smoke may be worse for your brain health than other air pollution. New research links it to an increased risk of dementia. The findings come as millions spent the weekend under air quality warnings from wildfires spewing smoke across the western U.S. Researchers tracked 10 years of health records from older adults in southern California along with their long-term exposure to tiny pollution particles. The odds of a dementia diagnosis were higher with exposure to wildfire particles than from other sources of that pollution. The report came Monday at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Philadelphia.
U.S. health regulators have approved a blood test for colon cancer, offering a new way of screening for a leading cause of cancer deaths. Medical manufacturer Guardant said Monday the Food and Drug Administration approved its Shield test for screening adults 45 and older. The approval is expected to increase insurance coverage of the test, which is already available for nearly $900. The test looks for DNA fragments shed by tumor cells and precancerous growths. In a study published in March, the test caught 83% of the cancers but very few of the precancerous growths found by colonoscopy, the gold standard for colon cancer screening.
Infants' tongue-tie may be overdiagnosed and needlessly treated, American Academy of Pediatrics says
A prominent doctors' group worries that a condition in infants that can affect breastfeeding known as tongue-tie is being overdiagnosed in the U.S. and too often treated with unnecessary surgery. The American Academy of Pediatrics is the latest and largest medical society to sound an alarm about the increasing use of scissors or lasers to cut away some infants’ tongue tissue when breastfeeding is difficult. The academy's new report was released Monday. It encourages pediatricians and other medical professionals to consider nonsurgical options for ankyloglossia. The report cites a study that suggests less than half of the kids with the characteristics of tongue-tie actually have trouble breastfeeding.
Iowa now bans most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy and before many women know they are pregnant. The law went into effect Monday in Iowa. It's one of four states that ban abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, with near-total bans at all stages of pregnancy in 14 others. Iowa’s Republican leaders have long fought for a ban and gained momentum after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Providers have shored up access in neighboring states and learned from others where bans went into effect more swiftly.
The warm, soggy summer across much of the Midwest has produced a bumper crop of wild mushrooms — and a surge in calls to poison control centers. At the Minnesota Regional Poison Center, calls from April through July more than tripled over the same period last year. Samantha Lee, the center’s director, says they took 90 calls for potential exposures over that period. Fortunately, she says, the calls usually are for mild symptoms. The situation appears similar across wet areas of the country. Kait Brown, clinical managing director of America’s Poison Centers, says calls are up 26% throughout all U.S. states and territories.
Federal officials are moving to set new limits on salmonella in raw poultry products in the U.S. The Agriculture Department's proposal is aimed at reducing the number of people who get sick. The testing requirements would block the sale of any products that don't meet the new standard and allow for recalls. Industry representatives say the rule would raise the price of chicken. Experts say the changes would help, but will take time. The proposed rule is three years in the making. It would be finalized after a public comment period.
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