McConnell Freezes Again; Lead & Cadmium in Weed Users; OTC Narcan Coming Soon

by Nicole Lou, Senior Staff Writer, MedPage Today August 31, 2023

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) had another freezing moment in front of reporters. (CNN)

Writers and actors risked good health insurance to participate in the Hollywood strike. (NPR)

Many children were wrongly dropped from Medicaid due to a glitch in state automated systems. (AP)

England's annual vaccination program for older and at-risk groups will start a few weeks earlier this year due to concerns surrounding the highly mutated COVID variant BA.2.86. (Reuters)

Meanwhile, an European Medicines Agency committee recommended authorizing Pfizer/BioNTech's new XBB.1.5-adapted version of the COVID-19 vaccine for children and adults. (Reuters)

Marijuana users had higher levels of lead and cadmium in their blood and urine in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. (Environmental Health Perspectives)

Narx Score and other algorithms identify patterns of potential narcotic abuse, but many users -- including healthcare providers -- don't understand how they work. (KFF Health News)

The FDA gave 510(k) clearance to iTempShield, an early infection-detecting skin patch wearable that remotely tracks temperature continuously for up to 2 months, AION Biosystems announced.

Acne scars have a new treatment on the market with FDA clearance for an expanded indication of the Superb system, Sofwave Medical said.

Come September, naloxone (Narcan) will be sold over-the-counter at major pharmacy chains Walgreens, CVS Pharmacy, Rite Aid, Walmart, and Kroger. (USA Today)

Outlook Therapeutic said its investigational ophthalmic formulation of bevacizumab or ONS-5010 (Lytenava) to treat wet AMD was declined by the FDA. (Reuters)

Women who underwent infertility treatment tended to have increased stroke hospitalizations in the months after delivery. (JAMA Network Open)

FDA inspections resulted in issued warning letters to three infant formula manufacturers.

Wildfires stopped electricity at a California prison, where many inmates were confined to smoky cells with very little ventilation. (AP)

Hamilton Medical has several lines of mechanical ventilators under class I recall due to software issues that may cause the ventilators to stop, the FDA said.

An unintended consequence of this year's sesame allergy labeling law: companies blending sesame into more products and labeling them as such. (NPR)

A joking Facebook post about COVID-19 landed a man a terrorism charge, and a court just ruled it is protected speech under the First Amendment. (Washington Post)

Healthcare professionals still attend Laurel Braitman's free virtual writing workshop, running since 2020 to help them share their medical experiences. (STAT)

Severe turbulence sent 11 plane passengers to the hospital after a flight from Milan to Atlanta. (CNN)

Nicole Lou is a reporter for MedPage Today, where she covers cardiology news and other developments in medicine. Follow