Dr. Mehmet Oz softened President Trump's warnings that pregnant women should not take Tylenol due to a largely unproven link to autism. In an interview with TMZ, Oz, who leads CMS, said pregnant women should consult with a physician and use the medication if they have a high fever.
Infection rates from drug-resistant 'nightmare bacteria' rose almost 70% between 2019 and 2023, according to a new report from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientists. Bacteria that are difficult to treat due to the so-called NDM gene primarily drove the increase, CDC researchers wrote in an article published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Only two antibiotics work against those infections, and the drugs are expensive and must be administered through an IV, researchers said. 'The rise of NDMs in the U.S. is a grave danger and very worrisome,' said David Weiss, an Emory University infectious diseases researcher, in an email.
President Donald Trump isn't a doctor. But he played one on TV Monday, offering copious amounts of unproven medical advice that he suggested -- often without providing evidence -- might help reduce autism rates. The presentation recalled the early days of the coronavirus pandemic during Trump's first term, when the president stood for daily White House briefings and tossed out grossly inaccurate claims — including famously suggesting that injecting disinfectants could help people. 'I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside, or almost a cleaning?' Trump asked in April 2020. 'As you see, it gets in the lungs, it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that.'
A second person's death has now been linked to a Legionella outbreak in Marshalltown, state health officials say. The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services confirmed on Monday that an elderly adult with multiple underlying health conditions died on Sept. 18. This is the second death associated with the Legionella outbreak. A retired Catholic priest, the Rev. Bernard 'Bernie' Grady, was the first reported fatality of this outbreak. The exact cause of the outbreak has not yet been confirmed, but officials believe cooling towers are the 'most likely source of the outbreak.'
Three major hospital systems have challenged a new state proposal about approving organ-transplant programs, alleging it does not include adequate safeguards for quality of care. Tampa General Hospital, UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville and Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami filed the challenges after the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration in August issued a proposed rule for transplant programs. The challenges, filed this month at the state Division of Administrative Hearings, came after years of debate and disputes about approving transplant programs.
Patient deaths have been found to increase in U.S. hospitals after being acquired by private equity firms, according to one study. The death rates rose in the emergency departments of these hospitals, in comparison to similar hospitals not acquired by private equity, the study says. This nationwide study of hundreds of hospitals by researchers at Harvard Medical School, the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Chicago builds on previous evidence demonstrating the link.