Current Events

After Amtrak Train 188 derailed in Philadelphia on May 12, 2015, national safety experts said the accident that killed eight and injured hundreds could have been prevented with a safety fix Congress had mandated in 2008: Positive Train Control.

Railroads were supposed to have the system, which automatically controls train speeds to prevent accidents, in place by the end of 2015. But almost none had acted quickly enough to meet that requirement, so Congress voted to give them more time.

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Lisa French underwent spinal-fusion surgery in 2014 after her doctor warned her that a fall or trip might leave her paralyzed due to lingering complications from a car wreck.

Her recovery was arduous, but French says she was secure in her belief that her health insurance would make sure she suffered no financial harm from her medical bills.

Then, almost three years later, French, who works a night job as a billing clerk at a trucking company, answered a knock on the door one Sunday morning. A process server handed her papers that showed that the nonprofit St. Anthony North Health Campus in Westminster, where she had her operation, had sued her for $229,112.
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THURSDAY, June 28, 2018 (HealthDay News) -- Nearly 80 percent of meat in U.S. supermarkets contains antibiotic-resistant bacteria, according to the Environmental Working Group, a non-profit environmental research organization.

The bacteria -- often called "superbugs" -- were resistant to at least one of 14 antibiotics tested for in 2015 by the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System, a federal-public health partnership.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria were found on 79 percent of ground turkey samples tested; 71 percent of pork chops; 62 percent of ground beef; and 36 percent of chicken breasts, wings and thighs, the findings showed.
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The largest outbreak of E. coli in more than a decade is over, federal authorities said Thursday, after five people died and more than 200 others were sickened in three dozen states.

Although investigators determined that the E. coli came from contaminated romaine lettuce grown in Arizona's Yuma region near the border with Southern California, the Food and Drug Administration has not been able to link the outbreak to one farm, processor or distributor. New evidence showed bacteria taken from several canal water samples in the Yuma growing region to be a genetic match to the strain of bacteria that caused the outbreak, according to a statement from FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb on Thursday.
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A federal jury in Denver on Wednesday returned a verdict against dialysis giant DaVita, awarding $383.5 million in wrongful death lawsuits brought by the families of three patients who died of cardiac arrest after treatments at clinics.

DaVita staff treated the patients with GranuFlo, a product the Denver-based dialysis company knew could cause toxic pH imbalances and alkalosis, according to a news release from Hagens Berman, a law firm representing the plaintiffs.

Jury verdicts returned Wednesday in U.S.
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Nuplazid, a drug for hallucinations and delusions associated with Parkinson’s disease, failed two clinical trials. In a third trial, under a revised standard for measuring its effect, it showed minimal benefit. Overall, more patients died or had serious side effects on Nuplazid than after receiving no treatment.

Patients on Uloric, a gout drug, suffered more heart attacks, strokes and heart failure in two out of three trials than did their counterparts on standard or no medication.

Nevertheless, the U.
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The House on Friday passed a sweeping package to fight the opioid crisis, with members of both parties approving measures that include encouraging nonaddictive pain treatment and fighting the rise of synthetic drugs such as fentanyl.

The suite of legislation, comprising nearly 60 bills, passed the House 396 to 14. It would allow for increased research for nonaddictive pain medications, allow physician assistants and nurse practitioners to prescribe medications that treat opioid addiction and create opioid recovery centers.

“This package is not Congress’ first legislative response to this crisis, nor will it be our last. But it does include meaningful solutions that will update archaic policies, better equip our communities to respond to this evolving epidemic, and save lives,” Reps.
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Audi has issued a stop sale and recall for nearly 140,000 of its A6, A7 sedans in the United States due to a sensor issue that could result in the necessary air bags not deploying in the event of a crash.

Volkswagen's luxury brand reports in a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration documents that the recall affects 139,249 2012 through 2018 A6 sedans and A7 hatchbacks. This includes the automaker's S6, S7 and RS7 options, and the stop sale was issued because Audi believes some affected are still for sale at its dealerships.

The issue at the heart of the recall is the risk that the sensors could fail to detect a passenger in the passenger's seat, which would result in the necessary air bags not deploying during a crash.

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The next time you hop on a bicycle to head across town, consider this: your helmet may not perform well enough in an accident.

A first-of-its-kind study using the latest techniques for simulating head injuries found significant variations in how bike helmets protect against concussions.

Urban-style helmets -- which have nearly solid covers with few vents -- and those that haven’t adopted the latest anti-concussion technology were more than twice as likely to result in injuries, researchers from Virginia Tech and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found in a study released Tuesday.

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(Reuters) - Kellogg Co said on Thursday it is recalling an estimated 1.3 million cases of its Honey Smacks cereal from more than 30 U.S. states due to the potential for Salmonella contamination, in the latest case of U.S.
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Ever since he had Lasik surgery two years ago, Geobanni Ramirez sees everything in triplicate.

The surgery he hoped would improve his vision left the 33-year-old graphic artist struggling with extreme light sensitivity, double vision and visual distortions that create halos around bright objects and turn headlights into blinding starbursts.

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