Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Multistate E. Coli Outbreak Traced To Organic Carrots From California
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating an E. coli outbreak in at least 18 states linked to some organic carrots, which has led to at least one death. At least 39 cases of E. coli have been linked to the carrots since early September, leading to 15 hospitalizations and one death, according to the CDC. (Mascarenhas, 11/17)
In other health and wellness news 鈥
Online e-cigarette and vape retailers are under fire for not complying with sales restrictions. Regulations are in place to help prevent the sale of vape products to minors, including age verification, shipping methods and flavor restrictions. Researchers at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at University of California San Diego put those regulations to the test. (Stabile, 11/17)
Cancer cases are on the rise among people under 50 鈥 and researchers aren鈥檛 sure why. A recent study by the American Cancer Society found that 17 out of 34 cancer types were increasing among younger people.聽At the Milken Institute鈥檚 Future of Health Summit on Thursday, researchers and health care executives talked about efforts to detect cancers earlier, save lives, and get to the root of why cancers have begun to rise in this population. (Oza, 11/18)
On a sunny day in July, while other Bay Area kids were playing at camps or water parks, 8-year-old Charlotte O鈥橬eill was leaning back in a reclining chair in a small, carpeted San Jose office room. Her eyes were fixed on a television playing her favorite cartoon, 鈥淏luey.鈥 Maureen and Bill O鈥橬eill, her parents, sat beside her in the room at Summit Brain Health, where a聽neuro-technician had placed a large, figure-eight-shaped magnetic coil on her forehead. Every 28 seconds, the coil sent a magnetic pulse to her brain, which required Charlotte鈥檚 eyes to be closed for five seconds at a time.聽(Vainshtein, 11/16)
Jason Jimenez had brown eyes when he walked into a New York clinic last month. When he emerged a few hours later, they were light gray.聽The 39-year-old real-estate agent is among a growing number of people who have permanently changed their eye color through cosmetic surgery. Many doctors say the surgery hasn鈥檛 been proven safe and warn it could cause lasting damage. (Mosbergen, 11/17)
Would you put beef fat on your face? Beef tallow, a pale paste rendered from cow fat, is usually used as a cooking fat due to its high smoke point. It was once McDonald鈥檚 fat-of-choice to cook fries. Now, companies are pitching beef tallow as the skincare solution of our ancestors and claim their ointments can soothe dry skin and alleviate acne. And they鈥檙e reporting a spike in sales. Amallow, a beef tallow-based skincare brand in Cincinnati, sold 400 units in May, when the company launched. In October, it sold about 15,000. (Amenabar, 11/15)