Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
(PHOENIX, Az.) -- Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs on Thursday signed repeal legislation of a long dormant, near-total abortion ban that was recently revived by the state Supreme Court, stirring widespread controversy and debate.
Hobbs' signature will reverse the pending reactivation of the restrictive abortion law that dates to 1864 -- but it won't do so immediately.
Instead, the ban, which was ruled last month to be enforceable by the Arizona Supreme Court in light of the U.S. Supreme Court overruling Roe v. Wade in 2022, cannot be struck down by the new repeal law until 90 days after the Arizona Legislature adjourns its session by the end of June.
However, the Civil War-era law, which bans nearly all abortions with exception only for a woman whose life is in danger, is on track to take effect on June 27, Arizona's attorney general has said.
Hobbs, a Democrat, told ABC News earlier this week she was "hopeful" the legislative adjournment will come in "the next few weeks." The three-month clock on the repeal taking effect could then make for a gap of two or three months wherein the 1864 ban would be law.
"I'll do everything in my power to delay the implementation of the ban," the governor said.
The Arizona attorney general, Democrat Kris Mayes, requested on Tuesday that the state's Supreme Court put on hold its order reviving the 1864 law.
Planned Parenthood filed a similar request on Wednesday that cites "legislative deference," the principle it says the court used to justify its reinstatement of the ban. The women's health advocacy group says it should defer to the Legislature's will after it passed a repeal, with a handful of Republicans joining the Democratic minority in the statehouse.
Once the 1864 ban is repealed, a separate, 15-week ban, that also doesn't make exceptions for rape or incest, will take effect in the state.
Abortion rights activists said they won't be satisfied with such an outcome.
"Unfortunately, Arizonans will still be living under a law that denies us the right to make decisions about our own health. Arizonans cannot afford to celebrate or lose momentum," a spokesperson for Arizona for Abortion Access said after the repeal passed the Senate yesterday.
Voters will likely consider the issue directly in November, as pro-abortion access advocates are pushing a ballot initiative that would enshrine abortion rights in Arizona's Constitution. Abortion opponents have been considering their own initiatives to counter this proposal.
ABC News' Isabella Murray contributed to this report.
Negelle Morris, senior vice president of Novo Nordisk, speaks out on "Good Morning America" about drugs used for weight loss. Via GMA
(NEW YORK) -- An executive for Novo Nordisk, the maker of popular drugs used for weight loss including Ozempic and Wegovy, says the company is investing over $6 billion dollars to help meet the increased demand for the drugs amid ongoing shortages and high prices.
Negelle Morris, senior vice president and head of U.S. cardiometabolic sales at Novo Nordisk Inc., warned though that even with the increased investment, there will still likely be a delay in getting the drugs to the market.
"It's not like a light switch," Morris told ABC News' Erielle Reshef in an exclusive interview that aired Thursday on "Good Morning America." "The strategy is to be very mindful and thoughtful about the amount of the lower doses that we're putting into the market, and I think that over time, the investments that we're making in manufacturing capabilities will ensure that over time we're able to meet that demand."
The three smallest doses for Wegovy, ranging from 0.25 milligram to 1 milligram, currently have "limited availability," according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Novo Nordisk told ABC News that despite the shortages for Wegovy, the company has enough product on the market to start 25,000 patients on Wegovy per week -- a fourfold increase since late last year.
In addition, Novo Nordisk has agreed to acquire three production facilities from pharma and biotech company Catalent for $11 billion, and the company expects to complete the acquisition by the end of the year.
Ozempic is currently available in all dosages, according to the FDA, but has experienced shortages over the past two years as demand for drugs used for weight loss has continued to skyrocket.
Ozempic is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat Type 2 diabetes, but some doctors prescribe the medication "off-label" for weight loss, as is permissible by the FDA.
Wegovy, a medication that contains the same main ingredient, semaglutide, as Ozempic, is FDA-approved for weight loss.
Along with physical access to the medications, financial access has also been a barrier for people with diabetes and obesity who might benefit from the drugs.
Without insurance coverage, the out-of-pocket cost for medications like Ozempic and Wegovy can run as high as $1,000 or more per month.
Last month, a U.S. Senate committee led by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont launched an investigation into the high cost of the two medications.
Novo Nordisk told ABC News the company is working with insurance companies to lower the cost of the drugs, as well as with lawmakers to have the drugs covered by Medicare for obesity.
Morris said Novo Nordisk agrees that the medications "need to be more affordable" but did not offer further specifics.
"I can absolutely assure America that we're doing everything that we can, not only to reduce cost and out of pocket in a way that is consistent with the health care system that we have in the U.S., but also to increase supply," Morris said. "Our manufacturing facilities are working 24/7."
She continued, "The plan that we had to be thoughtful and certainly responsible, but also to increase access to this medication by releasing more of those lower doses, allowing more new patients to start, is something that we'll continue to work on."
When asked by Reshef where the profit from the sales of Wegovy and Ozempic is directed, Morris said it goes back into research and innovation for new medicines and a unit dedicated to preventing obesity.
(NEW YORK) -- As Florida's six-week abortion ban took effect Wednesday, Dr. Robyn Schickler, CMO of Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, discussed counseling patients who may be seeking abortions beyond six weeks of pregnancy.
Schickler recently had to inform her patients that Florida does not offer abortion services, and had to refer them to nearby states that do. She explains that it is a difficult conversation to have.
ABC News Live sat down with Schickler as she discussed the latest abortion ban in Florida.
ABC NEWS LIVE: For more about the latest abortion ban in Florida, we want to bring in Chief Medical Officer Dr. Robyn Schickler from Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida. Doctor, thank you so much for joining us. What are your conversations like with patients who arrive at Planned Parenthood for an abortion and are more than six weeks pregnant?
SCHICKLER: Yeah. So that's a very hard conversation. And, you know, we actually did have to start having those before today because Florida does have a 24-hour waiting period. So there were patients that we saw yesterday and even the day before, that we wouldn't be able to get in before May 1. It's, it's a hard conversation. We tell them that we would not be able to provide the abortion to them in the state of Florida, and we provide them their options. And if they want to continue seeking an abortion, then we have patient navigators that can help them get to where they need to go, and get the resources to get to where they need to go.
ABC NEWS LIVE: And so when you say you provide them options, does that mean you give them recommendations outside of the state?
SCHICKLER: Yes. So, we give them recommendations for different clinics that are outside the state. And if they need something, like navigation services from us, we can provide that.
ABC NEWS LIVE: And I want to back up for a little bit because we've heard a lot of conversations about many women not even knowing that they're pregnant at six weeks. Is that something that you run into as well?
SCHICKLER: Yes. So the way we date a pregnancy is we count from the first day of the last menstrual period. That's also basically what ultrasounds go on. So if someone has a regular period, by the time they've missed a period, they're already four weeks along. And so that gives them little time to, to one, even just realize that they missed a period. And two, to obtain the care that they need. So six weeks is really a tiny amount of time. And the majority of patients that I've seen in my practice don't even know till they're at least six weeks.
ABC NEWS LIVE: And what are you hearing from these patients right now, especially in regards to having to seek health care out of the state of Florida?
SCHICKLER: These patients are frustrated. You know, and it's a mixture. Some patients are aware of what's going on. Some people, you know, are busy in their lives and and don't have the time to keep track of everything going on. And so it's the first time they've heard about it, when we say we can't take care of them. They're frustrated. They're mad. They they just came in to get health care, and now they're being told that they can't, and that they have to travel hundreds if not thousands of miles out of the state of Florida from their home to get that care.
ABC NEWS LIVE: And with the six-week ban now taking effect, what concerns you most with regard to a pregnant person's physical and emotional health?
SCHICKLER: Yeah, I think, you know, people are going to continue pregnancies that put them at high risk of both physical and mental and emotional harm and anguish and distress. And I think we're going to see an increase in things like maternal morbidity or sick women who are pregnant because we can't intervene before any of that happens.
ABC NEWS LIVE: Can you tell us about what's next? Because there's a lot that that still isn't known, as you said, even for somebody to define what constitutes putting the mother's life at risk. And I know that there's an amendment on the ballot for the November election to limit the government's power. Tell us what that amendment seeks to do.
SCHICKLER: Yeah. So this amendment is really to get our rights back. It's to a to be able to seek medical care and obtain that medical care without the government intervening in that care. And we deserve that right, our patients deserve that right -- to seek whatever medical care they need. And abortion happens to be part of that medical care for many people.
ABC NEWS LIVE: Dr. Robin Schickler, we thank you so much for your time and insight. Really appreciate it.
(NEW YORK) -- A meat processor has recalled approximately 16,234 pounds of raw ground beef products processed in its Pennsylvania facility that may be contaminated with E. coli.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service announced the recall Wednesday with Cargill Meat Solutions to alert consumers of six different types of ground beef products that should be thrown out.
According to the agency, the ground beef may have been contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, a "bacterial strain that is an important food and a waterborne pathogen that causes diarrhea, hemorrhagic colitis, and hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) in humans," according to StatPearls, an online library published in the National Library of Medicine.
Details of recalled raw ground beef products
The raw ground beef items were produced April 26-27, 2024.
Impacted products include:
2.25-pound plastic-wrapped trays containing "93% LEAN 7% FAT ALL NATURAL LEAN GROUND BEEF" with lot code 117 and establishment number "EST. 86P" printed on the back of the label.
1.33-pound plastic-wrapped trays containing four "PRIME RIB BEEF STEAK BURGERS PATTIES" with lot code 118 and establishment number "EST. 86P" printed on the back of the label.
2.25-pound plastic-wrapped trays containing "85% LEAN 15% FAT ALL NATURAL ANGUS PREMIUM GROUND BEEF" with lot code 117 and establishment number "EST. 86P" printed on the back of the label.
2.25-pound plastic-wrapped trays containing "80% LEAN 20% FAT ALL NATURAL GROUND BEEF CHUCK" with lot code 118 and establishment number "EST. 86P" printed on the back of the label.
1.33-pound plastic-wrapped trays containing four "80% LEAN 20% FAT ALL NATURAL GROUND BEEF CHUCK PATTIES" with lot code 118 and establishment number "EST. 86P" printed on the back of the label.
1.33-pound plastic-wrapped trays containing four "90% LEAN 10% FAT ALL NATURAL GROUND BEEF SIRLOIN PATTIES" with lot code 118 and establishment number "EST. 86P" printed on the back of the label.
Each product bears the USDA mark of inspection on the front of the product label.
Cargill Meat Solutions reported the issue to FSIS after it "identified that previously segregated product had been inadvertently utilized in the production of ground beef," according to the agency.
A representative for Cargill Meat Solutions did not immediately respond to request for additional comment.
Recalled raw ground beef sold at Walmart in 9 states
The FSIS said the recalled ground beef products were shipped to Walmart locations nationwide, but according to the retailer's specific store locations there are only nine states listed from Massachusetts to North Carolina where the recalled products were sold.
The retailer issued a recall notice on its website Wednesday that directs to the full USDA details.
What to do if you purchased recalled ground beef from Walmart
Because the FSIS is concerned that some products could be in people's refrigerators or freezers, the agency warned consumers who have purchased these products "not to consume them."
"These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase," the agency recall notice stated.
Consumers with additional questions can reach Cargill via phone at 1-844-419-1574.
Additionally, the FSIS reminded consumers to always safely prepare raw meat products, both fresh and frozen, and only consume ground beef that has been cooked to an internal temperature of 160 F, checked by a food thermometer.
Health impacts of E. coli contamination in raw ground beef
As of time of publication there have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products, according to the FSIS.
In tandem with the USDA , Cargill has encouraged anyone who may be concerned about potential illness to contact a health care provider.
"E. coli O157:H7 is a potentially deadly bacterium that can cause dehydration, bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps 2-8 days (3-4 days, on average) after exposure the organism," the USDA stated. "While most people recover within a week, some develop a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). This condition can occur among persons of any age but is most common in children under 5-years old and older adults. It is marked by easy bruising, pallor, and decreased urine output. Persons who experience these symptoms should seek emergency medical care immediately."
(NEW YORK) -- Maternal mortality rates in the United States fell in 2022 after at least three years of continuous increases, new federal data shows.
In 2022, 817 women in the U.S. died of maternal causes with a rate of 22.3 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, according to the report published early Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics.
This is a drop from the 1,205 women that died in 2021 with a rate of 32.9 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.
Dr. Jessica Shepherd, a Dallas-based OB-GYN, said she believes one reason for the drop from 2021 to 2022 is that in the later months of the COVID-19 pandemic, people were less nervous to seek medical care and there was more access to health services.
"I do think when you look at 2021, we really were at the height of the pandemic," she told ABC News. "And what we do know that happened during the pandemic is when there was decreased access -- and who was able to go to the doctors -- we didn't have a lot of support during the actual pregnancy and delivery portion because there was less support people that were allowed in the delivery room."
Maternal mortality rates also fell significantly for several racial/ethnic groups in 2022 including Black, white and Hispanic women. However, the 2022 rate for Black women of 49.5 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births was significantly higher than the rate for white women at 19.0 and Hispanic women at 16.9.
Asian women also saw a drop from 2021 to 2022 but the CDC said it was not statistically significant. The rate was also lower than that of Black women at 13.2 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.
"I think we've recognized for a while that this disparity exists, and I think that for a long time, people thought, 'Oh, it's just access, you know, there isn't good access,' or ''This really reflecting socio-economic status, etc. There's a million different excuses," Dr. Laura Riley, OBGYN-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine, told ABC News.
She said the reasons are multi-factorial, but systemic racism in the health care industry, due to lack of representation, may be playing a role.
"Older CDC data suggests that Black women even at the highest socio-economic strata when you compare them to their white counterparts, they still have a higher risk of death," Riley said. "I think we also are recognizing that systemic racism plays a role in some of these adverse events, and it's a question of sort of pulling all of that apart and figuring out how we can provide quality healthcare to everyone."
When broken down by age, rates decreased significantly for every age group between 2021 and 2022. Even with the drop, the rate for women over age 40 was 87.1 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, about six times the rate for women younger than age 25 at 14.4 per 100,000 live births.
Previous studies have shown that risk factors associated with maternal mortality in older women include smoking during pregnancy, inadequate use of prenatal care, concurrent medical conditions such as hypertension, and previous pregnancy problems.
Riley said it's important for maternal mortality review committees, which convene at the state or local level, to study why women are dying during or after pregnancy, as well as studying women who suffered pregnancy complications.
"We also know that there's [women who have] survived the pregnancy and survived the labor and delivery events but have some long term what we call morbidity associated with birth, long term kind of cardiovascular disease, kidney disease," she said. "And so that's yet another reason that we need to really understand what's happening so that we can make changes in the health care system, in the education system...at community levels, at hospital levels, at individual doctors' levels, so that we can make people healthier and make pregnancy and childbirth super."
(NEW YORK) -- Retail dairy samples recently tested for the avian flu virus, including cottage cheese and sour cream, did not detect any viable virus that would represent a risk to consumers, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday.
In a joint press briefing with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Dr. Donald Prater, acting director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition for the FDA, shared updates on ongoing bird flu investigations.
A multi-state outbreak of bird flu in dairy cows was first reported in late March, according to the CDC. The agency said at the time it had "confirmed one human HPAI A(H5N1) infection that had exposure to dairy cattle in Texas that were presumed to be infected with the virus," adding that it was "working with state health departments to continue to monitor workers who may have been in contact with infected or potentially infected birds/animals and test those people who develop symptoms."
Early last week, initial testing results from the national retail milk study, which sampled 96 pasteurized milk products, showed through PCR testing that about 1 in 5 retail milk samples had tested positive for HPAI viral fragments.
This week, the agencies announced they had not detected "any viable virus" in a second group of test samples.
Second round of dairy product testing did not detect any viable bird flu virus, per FDA
"Today we're announcing an additional set of results from our national study of 297 total retail dairy samples. The second group represents an additional 201 samples of pasteurized retail dairy products, including cottage cheese and sour cream in addition to fluid milk," Prater said. "These samples underwent acute qPCR (quantitative polymerase chain reaction) testing, as well as the same egg inoculation test, and we're encouraged that this preliminary testing also did not detect any viable virus."
To further ensure the safety of other milk-derived products for the youngest population, the FDA said it "tested samples of retail powdered infant formula and powdered milk products marketed as toddler formula," all of which came back negative, "indicating no detection of viral fragments or virus."
These additional preliminary results "further affirm the safety of the US commercial milk supply" as well as the efficacy of pasteurization in inactivating HPAI, the agency explained.
The FDA is continuing to test samples of pooled raw milk routed to pasteurization and processing for commercial use in order to help characterize potential virus levels that pasteurization may encounter, which will also be used to inform studies to further validate pasteurization.
The FDA, with the CDC, USDA and local health partners, is continuing surveillance of milk production, processing and pasteurization to manage the emerging disease.
The FDA also reiterated this week that it strongly advises against the consumption of raw milk and recommends that the industry not manufacture or sell raw milk or raw milk products.
FSIS ground beef inspection process amid bird flu in cattle
"We are very confident that the meat supply is safe," a representative from the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service said Wednesday.
The meat inspection process includes each animal being inspected before slaughter, and all cattle carcasses must pass inspection after slaughter before they go into the food supply.
The FSIS has initiated three separate sampling efforts. The first was a collection of retail ground beef from the affected state, the second tested beef muscle samples from culled dairy cows, and a third study is looking at cooking ground beef at various temperatures.
How the CDC is monitoring H5N1 bird flu, local testing of those exposed
In the course of this investigation, the CDC said Wednesday local public health partners had monitored over 100 people, and if anyone presents with symptoms, the next step is to conduct local testing.
The CDC said it is monitoring flu surveillance data, "especially in areas where H5N1 viruses have been detected in dairy cattle or other animals for any unusual trends in flu-like illness, flu or conjunctivitis," Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC, said in his update Wednesday.
At this time, the CDC said it has found "no indicators of unusual flu activity in people, which includes avian influenza."
While the number of tests conducted on people locally varies day by day, Daskalakis said "it's around 25" currently.
People who have been exposed to infected birds, poultry or other animals are monitored for 10 days after exposure.
"We are looking to grow H5N1 virus stock from the one human case in Texas to use for additional laboratory experiments to learn how the virus reproduces in both human and cows," he said, which will ultimately help the CDC "assess the severity of illness and transmissibility of the virus under different scenarios."
In addition to laboratory testing, the CDC is continuing with outreach and education through public health partner organizations "to ensure preparedness for any potential human infections or exposures."
"CDC is conducting broad outreach to the public to raise awareness about the current situation and and remind everyone that the current risk to the general public health is low," Daskalakis said.
USDA says bird flu outbreak in dairy cows likely stemmed from single spillover event
"We currently have 36 affected hers across nine states," said Dr. Rosemary Sifford, deputy administrator of Veterinary Services and Chief Veterinary Officer for the USDA. "It appears that there was a single spillover event in the Texas panhandle geographic region from wild birds and to dairy cattle. The wild birds are believed to be the initial source of the infection in dairy cattle and then cattle movements spread the virus into other dairy cattle herds and then subsequently into poultry flocks."
Sifford added that of the affected herds, 10% have displayed symptoms, and the "cattle that display symptoms generally returned to near their previous production levels after they recover from the virus, which is taking around two weeks."
Most cows have recovered with palliative treatment with little or no associated mortality, according to the USDA.
The USDA did not provide a specific number of tests conducted on dairy cattle to date, but Sifford said she expects "an increase in the number of tests."
"We're requiring any herds that are moving animals inner state to test up to 30 animals in the lot that they expect to move. Once we reach 30 that's a statistically significant number to be able to determine the status of the lot," she said.
(NEW YORK) -- Florida's law banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy took effect on Wednesday, becoming one of the most restrictive states in the country on abortion access.
Florida's six-week ban replaced the state's previous 15-week abortion ban, prohibiting the procedure before most women know they are pregnant.
In the South, abortion is now either banned or severely restricted in Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas and Louisiana.
The closest state to Florida with no gestational limits on abortion is Virginia.
On April 1, the Florida State Supreme Court issued a decision to uphold the state's 15-week abortion ban in response to a legal challenge asking the court to throw out the ban.
The six-week trigger ban signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis went into effect Wednesday, 30 days after the court's ruling.
The decision came as part of an ongoing lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Planned Parenthood, the Center for Reproductive Rights and abortion providers against the state, claiming the ban violates the Florida Constitution.
In a separate decision also released on April 1, the Florida Supreme Court decided to allow a ballot initiative that would enshrine abortion rights in the state's Constitution. The decision will allow voters to determine the future of abortion access in the state in November.
In June 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and the constitutional right to abortion that had been the law nationwide for almost 50 years.
Two months before the Supreme Court's landmark decision, Republican lawmakers in Florida passed a law to halt abortion procedures after 15 weeks, which was previously limited to 24 weeks.
Before Wednesday's ban, Florida was a key point of access to women across the southeastern U.S. living in states that have ceased nearly all abortion services after Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Data gathered by the Guttmacher Institute estimates that there were 4,950 more abortions provided in Florida from January to June 2023, compared to the same period in 2020.
Calculating pregnancy is determined from the first day of a woman's last menstrual period, according to the American Pregnancy Association, which shortens the time a woman has to determine pregnancy before six weeks.
In addition, Florida requires patients to complete two in-person doctor visits within 24 hours to receive abortion access.
(NEW YORK) -- Even though one in five Americans lives with a mental illness, many feel it is not adequately addressed, with a new survey from West Health and Gallup suggesting that three in four Americans believe mental health conditions are not identified and treated in the same way as physical health conditions.
Roughly 60% of Americans give a poor or failing grade to how mental health conditions are treated, according to the survey.
“The magnitude [of the problem] really surprised me,” said Tim Lash, president of West Health.
He states that the U.S. is not just underperforming -- it is failing on a systemic level and in terms of the number of people with unmet needs.
The survey shows the impact of mental health challenges is significant with 51% of people said they experienced depression, anxiety, or another mental health condition in the past year.
Even more concerning, 22% of them said their mental health was so poor it interfered with normal activities like going to work or taking care of their household.
Stigma remains a significant barrier to care with seven in 10 Americans believing that society views people with mental health conditions negatively, the survey finds.
“It’s very difficult for patients to bring up mental health issues,” says Dr. Vidush Athyal, a family medicine physician at Kaiser Permanente in San Diego.
"The onus should probably be on the physician to really be attuned to picking up signs," said Athyal, emphasizing the importance of healthcare providers proactively incorporating mental health during routine patient visits.
While mental health stigma persists, experts hope increased dialogue will drive change.
"Hopefully, as our society becomes more comfortable talking about mental health, patients will feel more able to bring it up with their doctors," Athyal said. "You really shouldn't be holding too much back from your physician."
He also emphasizes that mental health challenges often manifest as physical symptoms.
“Many of the symptoms we encounter in primary care have an underlying psychosocial component, whether it’s migraines, back pain or palpitations. We think a patient may be having a heart attack, and then we end up running all the tests and everything’s normal. And then somebody finally attempts to dig a little bit deeper,” Athyal said, potentially revealing “a stressful event in the patient’s life that triggered this [response].”
Experts say the survey underscores that mental health shouldn't be an afterthought in American healthcare. Mental health professionals say that mental health is as important as physical health -- the two are inextricably linked.
“There’s a long way to go,” said Lash, “but I see hope. We need societal acceptance of mental health as a core part of overall health, and achieving parity is crucial.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide - free, confidential help is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Call or text the national lifeline at 988.
(AUSTIN, Texas) -- Officials in Austin, Texas, are investigating an "outbreak" of deadly drug overdoses spreading across the city.
Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services (ATCEMS) and the Austin Police Department (APD) said they received a total of 51 calls for suspected overdoses as of Tuesday afternoon, with four suspected deaths related to the surge, according to local ABC News affiliate KVUE.
APD said overdose patients range in age from 20s to 50s and across racial/ethnic groups, KVUE reported. Those who died from overdoses have not been identified but their ages range from mid-30s to mid-50s.
The surge of calls began around 9:00 a.m. CT Monday morning and were concentrated in the downtown area, Angela Carr, EMS division chief at ATCEMS, said during a Monday evening press conference. Calls later began coming in from around the city, including residences, businesses and in areas accessible to the general public.
Carr said a team was immediately deployed to the area, and Narcan rescue kits were distributed. Narcan is given as a nasal spray and the active ingredient in the medication -- naloxone -- can quickly restore breathing if someone is experiencing an opioid overdose.
ATCEMS said it usually receives two or three overdose calls per day, but the number of calls on Monday equated to a 1,000% increase in call volume, according to Dr. Heidi Abraham, deputy medical director for ATCEMS.
"The trend that we're seeing in this group of overdoses is that it is unusually deadly," she said during the press conference. "We've not experienced overdoses of this volume in several years."
Abraham said the overdose patients reported using several different types of drugs but did not elaborate on the specific drugs.
Christa Steadman, ATCEMS public information officer, said officials suspect the "outbreak" is due to "a new batch in town" likely from the same source or same couple of sources due to the similarities of symptoms among patients.
Officials said they will continue to provide updates as they become available. ATCEMS did not immediately reply to ABC News' request for comment.
It comes as a record number of Americans have died from drug overdoses. In 2022, there were nearly 108,000 drug overdose deaths, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 1% higher than the nearly 107,000 overdose deaths recorded in 2021.
In Texas, drug poisoning-related deaths for 2022 sit at 15.4 per 100,000, which is the highest rate since at least 2011, according to provisional data from the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS).
Travis County had the fifth-highest number of provisional drug overdose deaths with 308 in 2022, mostly among white residents.
States have previously said fentanyl, the synthetic opioid 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine, may be driving an increase in overdoses and overdose deaths.
TDSHS says preliminary data shows Travis County had 188 fentanyl poisoning-related deaths, the second-highest number behind Harris County, where Houston is located.
(ATLANTA) -- Rural Americans are more likely to die early from one of the five leading causes of death than those who live in urban areas, according to new federal data.
Researchers looked at the number of potentially preventable deaths from 2010 through 2022. The report was published Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Rural Americans were more likely to die from heart disease, cancer, unintentional injuries, stroke and chronic lower respiratory disease before age 80 compared to urbanites, researchers said.
"There is a well-described, rural-urban divide in the United States, where rural residents tend to be sicker and poorer and to have worse health outcomes than do their non-rural peers," Dr. Macarena Garcia, a senior health scientist in the CDC's Office of Rural Health, said during a press conference on Monday.
About 20% of the U.S. population lives in rural areas while the remaining 80% live in urban areas, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Previous research has indicated that rural Americans face numerous health care challenges including long travel distances to special and emergency care and are less likely to have health insurance. Additionally, rural Americans have higher rates of high blood pressure and obesity.
For the report, researchers identified premature deaths as occurring before age 80. The average life expectancy in the U.S. was 79 in 2010. The number of preventable early deaths was calculated by subtracting the number of expected deaths by the number of actual deaths.
Although COVID-19 has been the third- or fourth-leading cause of death since 2020, the CDC said deaths from the virus were "excluded to maintain consistency and facilitate the assessment of trends over time."
Since 2010, an estimated 6.37 million Americans have died prematurely from the five leading causes over the 12-year study period. Researchers found that about 64% of deaths from unintentional injury -- which includes car accidents, falls, accidental shootings, unintentional poisonings, overdose deaths and drownings -- could have been prevented.
The report found 34% of stroke and heart disease deaths were preventable as were 26% of deaths from chronic lower respiratory disease.
Results showed the percentage of preventable deaths were highest in rural counties versus urban ones.
For example, 44% of heart disease deaths among people below age 80 in rural areas were potentially preventable compared with 27% in urban areas. More than half of early deaths from unintentional injury and chronic lower respiratory disease in rural areas were preventable.
For deaths from cancer, less than 20% of deaths were preventable in rural counties.
"We have to remember that screening prevention services as well as treatment services are much more accessible in urban areas," Garcia said. "So that means they are limited in rural areas. Sometimes people have to drive two, three hours to the nearest center that provides specialty care."
She went on, "So that means people go without preventive services. People in rural areas likely have lower rates of screening and certainly have less access to treatment."
When it came to geographic variation, Garcia said the CDC analysis showed consistently that the southeastern U.S. was the region with the highest prevalence of preventable early deaths.
In 2022, for example, the CDC found that when in came to unintentional injuries, between 70% and 100% of early deaths in several southeastern states including South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky and Tennessee could have been prevented. By comparison, between 30% and 66% of deaths could have been prevented in the majority of states.
The CDC said it is trying to improve rural health by funding and guiding public health programs in rural communities such as increasing cancer screenings for women and promoting physical education in schools.
"We believe these findings can help guide focused public health interventions at the local and community levels to effectively reduce the risks of premature death," Garcia said during the press briefing. "The findings also suggest a need to better understand potential shifts in social, environmental and structural inequities contributing to disparities in preventable early deaths between rural and urban areas."
(NEW YORK) -- Weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations have hit their lowest level ever reported since the pandemic began, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There were 5,615 COVID hospitalizations in the most recent week data that is available. In comparison, there were over 150,000 weekly admissions at the peak of the Omicron variant circulating in early 2022.
"The significant decline in COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths to these new lows is encouraging, showing that our public health measures and vaccination efforts have paid off," said Dr. John Brownstein, chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News medical contributor.
Forecasts of new hospitalizations from the CDC indicate that admissions will likely remain stable for the next four weeks.
"It’s important to continue monitoring for new variants and maintaining protective health behaviors to prevent possible surges," Brownstein added.
The news comes as the requirements for hospitals to report respiratory illness data, like COVID hospital admissions, expire at the end of April. Federal officials plan to use other data sources such as wastewater, laboratory tests and emergency department data to stay informed about the spread of illnesses.
"A key lesson we learned from the COVID-19 pandemic is the importance of having reporting systems in place before an active emergency," a CDC spokesperson said in part of a statement. "These data have a significant and ongoing value for protecting patient health and safety as well as public health," the statement continued.
Data from the CDC shows that about 22.6% of adults as well as 14% of children have received the updated COVID vaccine, which is formulated to better protect against current sub variants. Older adults over the age of 65 were recommended to receive an additional updated COVID vaccine this spring due to their increased risk of severe disease, according to the CDC.
The Food and Drug Administration’s independent panel of advisors is set to meet in mid-March to discuss the recommended strains to be selected in the next formulation of COVID vaccines. As the virus has evolved since the beginning of the pandemic, vaccines have been adjusted to better protect against current strains.
COVID deaths have also been steadily declining this year, reaching new lows. There were an estimated 231 deaths from COVID in the most recent week data that is available, according to the CDC. However, death data are delayed and may be incomplete.
At the height of the pandemic, there were over 25,000 Americans dying weekly from the virus as the Delta variant swept across the country.
"It's crucial that we maintain robust surveillance and data collection to quickly respond to any changes in the virus's behavior," Brownstein said.
(NEW YORK) -- Federal officials continue to investigate the spread of avian flu, also known as bird flu, in livestock across the country and are now testing the U.S. beef supply to look for the genetic presence of the H5N1 virus.
The virus has been found in at least 34 cattle herds across nine states, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The federal agency said it remains confident that the nation's meat supply is safe.
"There have been no cases of any human being contracting bird flu or H5N1 from meat or milk. So it's completely safe," Dr. Scott Haskell, a professor of food safety at the Institute for Food Laws and Regulations at Michigan State University, told ABC News. "It's not a disease that spreads through eating or drinking."
A spokesperson from the USDA said in a statement: "USDA has a rigorous meat inspection process, where USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) veterinarians are present at all federal livestock slaughter facilities."
The news from the USDA comes after the Food and Drug Administration noted that fragments of the virus were found in the commercial milk supply. Later tests showed that the widespread practice of pasteurization inactivated the virus.
"This additional testing did not detect any live, infectious virus. These results reaffirm our assessment that the commercial milk supply is safe," the FDA said.
Experts said people should still be careful of consuming raw milk or products made from raw milk.
"Raw milk is unpasteurized and has a plethora of bacteria and viruses in it ... if there is any bird flu in the [raw] milk, it's not going to be denatured or killed. So, you run a minor risk from raw milk," Haskell explained.
The USDA said it will begin work on three separate beef studies: sampling ground beef at retail stores in states where cattle have tested positive; sampling beef muscle from sick dairy cows that have been culled; and conducting experiments that test cooking ground beef to various temperatures.
"Despite our confidence in the safety of the meat supply, the importance of continued and comprehensive investigations remains critical. These studies are crucial for maintaining public trust and ensuring that our food safety measures evolve in response to new information about H5N1," said Dr. John Brownstein, chief innovation officer at Boston Children's Hospital and an ABC News medical contributor.
Only meat that has passed inspection can be sold in grocery stores or restaurants, according to the USDA. The agency has veterinarians that are present at all federal livestock slaughter facilities where animals are inspected before and after slaughter.
Officials continue to recommend safe handling of food to help prevent foodborne illnesses: wash hands and surfaces often, separate raw meats from other foods, cook meat to the right temperature and chill food promptly in a refrigerator. Ground beef should be cooked to 160F and ground poultry to 165F, according to the USDA.
"The USDA's ongoing studies into the safety of beef considering the H5N1 findings in dairy cattle underscore the thoroughness of our food safety protocols," Brownstein added.
(NEW YORK) -- Rural Americans are more likely to die early from one of the five leading causes of death than those who live in urban areas, according to new federal data.
Researchers looked at the number of potentially preventable deaths from 2010 through 2022. The report was published Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Rural Americans were more likely to die from heart disease, cancer, unintentional injuries, stroke and chronic lower respiratory disease before age 80 compared to urbanites, researchers said.
"There is a well-described, rural-urban divide in the United States, where rural residents tend to be sicker and poorer and to have worse health outcomes than do their non-rural peers," Dr. Macarena Garcia, a senior health scientist in the CDC's Office of Rural Health, said during a press conference on Monday.
About 20% of the U.S. population lives in rural areas while the remaining 80% live in urban areas, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Previous research has indicated that rural Americans face numerous health care challenges including long travel distances to special and emergency care and are less likely to have health insurance. Additionally, rural Americans have higher rates of high blood pressure and obesity.
For the report, researchers identified premature deaths as occurring before age 80. The average life expectancy in the U.S. was 79 in 2010. The number of preventable early deaths was calculated by subtracting the number of expected deaths by the number of actual deaths.
Although COVID-19 has been the third- or fourth-leading cause of death since 2020, the CDC said deaths from the virus were "excluded to maintain consistency and facilitate the assessment of trends over time."
Since 2010, an estimated 6.37 million Americans have died prematurely from the five leading causes over the 12-year study period. Researchers found that about 64% of deaths from unintentional injury -- which includes car accidents, falls, accidental shootings, unintentional poisonings, overdose deaths and drownings -- could have been prevented.
The report found 34% of stroke and heart disease deaths were preventable as were 26% of deaths from chronic lower respiratory disease.
Results showed the percentage of preventable deaths were highest in rural counties versus urban ones.
For example, 44% of heart disease deaths among people below age 80 in rural areas were potentially preventable compared with 27% in urban areas. More than half of early deaths from unintentional injury and chronic lower respiratory disease in rural areas were preventable.
For deaths from cancer, less than 20% of deaths were preventable in rural counties.
"We have to remember that screening prevention services as well as treatment services are much more accessible in urban areas," Garcia said. "So that means they are limited in rural areas. Sometimes people have to drive two, three hours to the nearest center that provides specialty care."
She went on, "So that means people go without preventive services. People in rural areas likely have lower rates of screening and certainly have less access to treatment."
When it came to geographic variation, Garcia said the CDC analysis showed consistently that the southeastern U.S. was the region with the highest prevalence of preventable early deaths.
In 2022, for example, the CDC found that when in came to unintentional injuries, between 70% and 100% of early deaths in several southeastern states including South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky and Tennessee could have been prevented. By comparison, between 30% and 66% of deaths could have been prevented in the majority of states.
The CDC said it is trying to improve rural health by funding and guiding public health programs in rural communities such as increasing cancer screenings for women and promoting physical education in schools.
"We believe these findings can help guide focused public health interventions at the local and community levels to effectively reduce the risks of premature death," Garcia said during the press briefing. "The findings also suggest a need to better understand potential shifts in social, environmental and structural inequities contributing to disparities in preventable early deaths between rural and urban areas."
(NEW YORK) -- Breast cancer screening guidelines have been finalized by a major task force, bringing the recommended age to 40 for most women of average risk in a report published Tuesday.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a major task force consisting of expert physicians providing recommendations in the primary care setting for routine medical screenings, behavioral counseling, and preventive medications, is now recommending breast cancer screening with mammograms every other year for women with an average risk of developing breast cancer, starting at age 40. This guidance was previously drafted in May 2023, and nearly one year later, these recommendations have been finalized without major changes.
Previously, the USPSTF guidance said screening should start no later than age 50. The Task Force recommended that women in their 40s talk to their doctor about their individual risk. The age for routine screening was dropped to account for the 2% increase in breast cancer diagnosis rates each year among women in their 40s.
By lowering the screening age, the USPSTF predicts this change has the potential to avert 1.3 cases of death from breast cancer per 1000 women over a lifetime of screening. The recommendations are otherwise consistent with prior 2016 guidelines.
The updated guidelines also addressed ongoing racial disparities in breast cancer diagnosis and survival rates, particularly for Black women. According to the USPSTF, Black women are 40% more likely to die from breast cancer compared to white women. In addition to calling for more research on racial disparities and screening strategies in breast cancer, the USPSTF additionally noted this drop in screening age was included to hopefully address these disparities.
The updated recommendations will not impact insurance coverage, but by law, mammograms should be covered by insurance for all women 40 and older.
The finalized guidelines for routine screening mammograms apply to cisgender women and those assigned female at birth who are between the ages of 40 and 74 with an average risk of developing breast cancer.
The guidance also notes that almost half of all women have dense breasts, which places them at risk for breast cancer.
"In patients with dense breast tissue, addition of MRI may reduce cancer risk and false positive recalls," said Dr. Nancy Chan, Medical Oncologist, NYU Langone Perlmutter Cancer Center, in prepared remarks.
These recommendations do not apply to women with a personal history of breast cancer, those at very high risk for breast cancer following genetic testing, or a history of high-dose radiation therapy to their chest at a young age, or those with a history of breast lesions requiring one or more biopsies. Therefore, considerations should be made to start screening at an even earlier age.
For women aged 75 or older, the USPSTF continues to recommend that they speak to their healthcare providers on whether to continue routine screening, based on their medical history and personal preferences.
"Millions of women over age 75 are in very good health and are expected to live many more years during which their risk of breast cancer remains high. The ACS does not support stopping screening for anyone with a 10+ year life expectancy irrespective of age," said Dr. Karen Knudsen, Chief Executive Officer at the American Cancer Society (ACS), in prepared remarks.
For now, the USPSTF guidance recommends every-other-year screening, rather than annual screening. Some debate still exists about the appropriate rate of screening, with an accompanying JAMA editorial citing ACS that there is enough evidence to recommend annual screening for most women.
"The USPSTF decision today is a critical change concerning women's health and the fight against breast cancer, acknowledging that women in their 40s will benefit from mammography screening, and sending a strong message to referring physicians and women that breast cancer screening should begin earlier than age 50," Knudsen said in prepared remarks.
"Mammography screening is the cornerstone of our strategy to find this potentially deadly disease early, when it's easier to treat successfully," Knudsen continued.
Dr. Jennifer Miao is a cardiology fellow at Yale School of Medicine/Yale New Haven Hospital and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.
(NEW YORK) -- About 152 people across 30 counties in West Virginia have been exposed to measles, state health officials said Friday.
Earlier this week, the first confirmed case of measles in the state since 2009 was identified, according to the West Virginia Department of Health (WVDH). The patient was someone who was undervaccinated and had a history of recent international travel, the department said.
State health leaders said that since then, they've learned of dozens of exposed individuals including 128 West Virginia residents and 24 out-of-state contacts from four neighboring states.
Of the people who were exposed, 62% don't have documentation proving they are protected against measles and are considered at risk, according to WVDH.
"The Bureau for Public Health is strongly recommending those exposed individuals with no evidence of immunity against the virus quarantine until May 9 or 10, 2024, depending on their last date of exposure," the department said in a release.
The WVDH did not immediately reply to ABC News' request for comment.
The news about the possible exposure comes amid a rapid increase in the number of measles cases during the first quarter of 2024, in part due to several localized outbreaks, including at a children's hospital and daycare center in Philadelphia, an elementary school in Florida and a migrant center in Chicago.
As of Friday, 128 cases have been reported in 19 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). More than half of those infected were under 5 years old and 81% are unvaccinated or have unknown vaccination status, the federal health agency said.
Measles is a highly transmissible virus. It's so infectious that a measles patient could infect up to 90% of close contacts who are not immune, either through prior infection or vaccination, according to the CDC.
The CDC currently recommends that everyone receive two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, with the first dose between ages 12 and 15 months and the second dose between ages 4 and 6.
Why does the US keep experiencing measles outbreaks?
One dose of the measles vaccine is 93% effective at preventing infection if exposed to the virus, and two doses are 97% effective, according to the CDC.
The WVDH said it is working closely with the Monongalia County Health Department, where the positive measles case was identified, to make sure health officials have adequate testing supplies and MMR vaccine availability.
"The Bureau for Public Health recommends the safe and effective MMR vaccination as part of a routine vaccination schedule for all children and adults," the department said in the release. "With summer travel coming up and people going to and coming from countries that have seen sharp upticks in measles cases, the time is now to be sure you and your family members are up-to-date on their MMR vaccine."
.jpg)
