Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
FDA Issues Serious Recall For App The Controls Smart Insulin Pump
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a recall correction for an app that connects with an insulin pump due to a software issue that causes the app to crash, which can drain the battery of the insulin pump and has led to over 200 injuries. This is a Class 1 recall, which the FDA says is the most serious type of recall, and use of the device can lead to serious injury or death. (DeLetter, 5/10)
A Washington-based company is recalling a goat milk product and urging consumers to immediately stop using the product as baby formula. Healthwest Minerals Inc, doing business as Mt. Capra Products, of Chehalis, announced on Friday that it is recalling 1,506 boxes of Goat Milk Formula Recipe Kit on the advice of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) because the product does not provide sufficient nutrition when used as infant formula. (Rahman, 5/12)
Also —
First came public pleas for millennials and Gen Zers to be aware of the signs of colon cancer, which has seen such a rise in young adults that it’s now the No. 1 cause of cancer deaths in men under 50 and No. 2 in women under 50. This week, that plea expanded to adolescents, with news that colorectal cancer rates among kids between 10 and 14 and teens from 15 to 19 have risen by 500% and 333% percent, respectively, over two decades. (Greenfield, 5/10)
At 16, before his first psychotic episode, Charles Osugo was driven to become a nurse. He sped through high school, graduating a year early. He took enough college-credit classes to leave with an associate’s degree, in addition to his diploma. Right away, he enrolled in nursing school. Then, all of a sudden, things started slipping. (Timar-Wilcox, 5/13)
Spending at least two hours outside each day is one of the most important things your kids can do to protect their eyesight. "We think that outdoor time is the best form of prevention for nearsightedness," says Dr. Noha Ekdawi, a pediatric ophthalmologist in Wheaton, Ill. And that's important, because the number of kids with nearsightedness – or myopia – has been growing rapidly in the U.S., and in many other parts of the world. (Godoy, 5/13)
