A male nurse in Bakersfield, California is believed to have crossed the line with regard to patient confidentiality when he allegedly texted and called a female patient after she underwent reconstructive surgery. He allegedly obtained her cell phone number from her patient file.
Three more cases of measles have popped up in California since Monday, according to California Department of Public Health numbers released Wednesday–an increase after a hopeful weekend of no new cases. There has been a slowdown in new cases connected to the Disneyland outbreak, while passage of a California bill seeking to reduce parents’ options to exempt their school-age children from required vaccines has become more likely.
On Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control revealed that a superbug called Clostridium difficile, or C. diff, triggers over 450,000 infections a year nationwide and causes nearly 15,000 deaths. The bacterial infection, which is contained in feces, can be contracted by contact through hands or contaminated surfaces.
Possession of marijuana will become legal in the nation’s capital, Mayor Muriel Bowser reiterated Wednesday, defying a threat from Congress that she and other city leaders could face prison time for implementing a voter-approved initiative.
Last week, the Obama administration admitted it sent out 800,000 Obamacare forms with incorrect tax information–a government mistake that threatened to force Obamacare customers to resubmit their tax returns and possibly delay their refunds. This week, however, the Treasury Department says that will not be necessary.
Between multiple public health agencies from the U.S. and Canada, at least 147 cases of measles have been documented between December 28, 2014 and February 19, 2015 in an outbreak that is believed to have started at California’s Disneyland theme park in mid-December. The outbreak has expanded to six other states, plus Mexico and Canada.
A procedure called ERCP, or endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, which uses a specialized endoscope to deal with ailments of the digestive system, has unwittingly introduced a superbug called CRE, or carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, into at least two patients at UCLA’s Ronald Reagan Medical Center who died as a result. Five other patients were also exposed to the superbug; 180 more may have been exposed.
Furious debate has circled around the issue of parents vaccinating children since an outbreak began at Disneyland in mid-December last year. Whether or not teachers and school staff should be required to be vaccinated (again, in most cases), however, is a different story. Even records for those that are vaccinated have been found to be far out of date in some cases.
In the United States, fear of HIV has recently faded as treatments and awareness have caused some complacency with the disease. But a new, more virulent strain seems to be upsetting that complacency, and the source of this stronger version of the deadly virus is Cuba, the very nation that Obama wants opened up to American tourism.
HBO’s “Real Time” host Bill Maher blamed insurance company “sharks” for people seeing rate increases and insurance problems under Obamacare on Friday. After touting Obamacare, but also reporting on a piece from the New York Times on people who couldn’t see
Measles continues to spread internationally, with ten cases now appearing in Quebec, Canada connected to a California outbreak, according to a Feb. 11 report by the Public Health Department (PHD) of the Agency for Health and Social Services of Lanaudière.
In the midst of a measles outbreak, the public continues to debate over the issue of childhood vaccinations. Actress Mayim Bialik has voiced reluctant expression of her personal position on vaccinations over the years.
It is commonly assumed that many people working in Silicon Valley possess higher intelligence, as the area is replete with scientists, technologists, and engineers. However, according to the California Department of Public Health (DPH), many of those same people are too smart–or not intelligent enough–to vaccinate their children.
Four-month-old baby Mobius Loop is up to date on American Academy of Pediatrics recommended vaccinations, but at his tender age, it’s too early for his measles shot. It was during a January 18 family trip to Disneyland that Baby Mobius is believed to have contracted the highly contagious measles disease–and his mother posted her “mixed feelings” online.
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) passengers in San Francisco may have been exposed to measles after an infected individual used the train to commute between work and home over three days last week, Contra Costa County health officials warned Wednesday.
During a hearing, Sen. Patty Murray says she hopes Congress can “encourage broader use of vaccines.”
Someone on Capitol Hill has taken notice of the lawsuit Judicial Watch filed last fall challenging members of Congress who are taking advantage of health benefits they are not entitled to claim. That someone is Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), who now chairs the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee.
Measles isn’t the only disease infiltrating the immune systems of Californians. Whooping cough is back, rising through 2014 and highlighting the diminishing effectiveness of the childhood vaccine. In response, public health officials are encouraging booster shots in adults and older children.
On his weekly Friday night panel discussion during his show Real Time, Bill Maher wasted no time jumping into the vaccination debate. Maher suggested that vaccines are preventable if people would simply eat better, attacked genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and defended climate change to make his own argument that inconsistencies within the medical profession are all the more reason not to trust vaccines.
Doctors are warning parents against reviving “measles parties” intended to expose their children to the disease at a gathering with at least one infected person.
A member of the rap group Cypress Hill won a Santa Ana city lottery Thursday for the rights to open a medical marijuana dispensary in the Orange County city.
California Governor Jerry Brown signaled an openness to the announcement of a bill co-sponsored by two state senators that would eliminate vaccine exemptions based on “personal” and religious belief on Wednesday.
Former Texas Gov. and potential candidate for the Republican presidential nomination Rick Perry took some heat over a Texas law on vaccination this week. Perry used an interview with the New Hampshire Journal to elaborate on his thinking in that regard.
California State Senators Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica) and Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) announced on Wednesday that they will be introducing a bill to end the ability of parents in the Golden State to exempt their children from school vaccinations based on personal beliefs and religion.
Hollywood’s famous Chinese Theater hosted the timely red carpet premiere of the anti-vaccine film Trace Amounts on Wednesday evening.The film challenges the safety of vaccines that may contain the potentially harmful preservative thimerosal. The film’s release comes in the middle of a measles outbreak that has put the debate over childhood vaccinations in the national spotlight.
