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  • Trump Administration Says Lower Prices for 15 Medicare Drugs Will Save Taxpayers Billions

    NEW YORK (AP) — Pharmaceutical companies have agreed to slash the Medicare prices for 15 prescription drugs after months of negotiations, reductions that are expected to produce billions in savings for taxpayers and older adults, the Trump administration said.

    But the net prices it unveiled for a 30-day supply of each drug are not what Medicare recipients will pay at their pharmacy counters, since those final amounts will depend on each individual’s plan and how much they spend on prescriptions in a given year.

    Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. touted the deals as part of the administration’s efforts to address affordability concerns among Americans. The Medicare drug negotiation program that made them possible is mandated by law and began under President Joe Biden’s administration.

    “President Trump directed us to stop at nothing to lower health care costs for the American people,” Kennedy said in a statement Tuesday evening. “As we work to Make America Healthy Again, we will use every tool at our disposal to deliver affordable health care to seniors.”

    The announcement marks the completion of a second round of negotiations under a 2022 law that allows Medicare to haggle over the price it pays on the most popular and expensive prescription drugs used by older Americans, bringing the total number of negotiated drug prices to 25. The new round of negotiated prices will go into effect in 2027. Reduced prices for the inaugural round of 10 drugs negotiated by the Biden administration last year will go into effect in January.


    Price negotiations apply to drugs treating diabetes, asthma, cancers and more

    The latest negotiated prices apply to some of the prescription medications on which Medicare spends the most money, including the massively popular GLP-1 weight-loss and diabetes drugs Ozempic, Rybelsus and Wegovy. Some of the other drugs involved in the negotiations include Trelegy Ellipta, which treats asthma; Otezla, a psoriatic arthritis drug; and various drugs that treat diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome and different forms of cancer.

    Dr. Mehmet Oz, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator, said the administration delivered “substantially better outcomes for taxpayers and seniors in the Medicare Part D program” than the previous year’s deals.

    Under the first round of Medicare price negotiations, the Biden administration said the program would have saved about $6 billion on net covered prescription drug costs, or about 22%, if it had been in effect the previous year. The Trump administration said its latest round would have saved the government about $8.5 billion in net spending, or 36%, if it had been in effect last year.

    It’s unclear exactly how much money the newly announced deals could save Medicare beneficiaries when they are buying prescription drugs at the pharmacy because those costs are determined by various individual factors.

    A new rule that kicked off this year also caps out-of-pocket drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries at $2,000, giving some relief to older adults affected by high-cost prescriptions. The administration said estimated out-of-pocket savings for Medicare beneficiaries with drug plans is about $685 million.

    Spencer Perlman, director of health care research at Veda Partners, said the Trump administration’s improved outcomes probably resulted from the mix of drugs being negotiated and lessons learned from the first year of negotiations.

    Net drug prices are proprietary, he said, but “if we take the administration at their word, I think it demonstrates that they have secured meaningful price concessions for seniors, meaning the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program is working as intended.”


    Medicare recipients can’t get GLP-1 drugs for obesity, but the administration is making changes

    The GLP-1 weight-loss drugs that were part of the negotiations have been especially scrutinized for their high out-of-pocket costs. Yet it’s still unclear to what extent Medicare beneficiaries who want to use the drugs to treat obesity will be able to do so.

    Medicare has long been prohibited from paying for weight-loss treatments, but a separate deal recently announced between the Trump administration and two pharmaceutical companies included plans for a pilot program that will expand coverage for the drugs to additional high-risk obese and overweight people.

    The Trump administration this year has also negotiated several unrelated deals with drug companies to lower the cost of their products for the wider population.

    Pharmaceutical companies, meanwhile, have sued over the Medicare drug negotiations enabled by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act and remain opposed to them.

    “Whether it is the IRA or MFN, government price setting for medicines is the wrong policy for America,” Alex Schriver, senior vice president of public affairs at the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA, said in a statement. “These flawed policies also threaten future medical innovation by siphoning $300 billion from biopharmaceutical research, undermining the American economy and our ability to compete globally.”

    Next year, Medicare will negotiate prices for another round of 15 drugs, including physician-administered drugs for the first time.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • One Week Less on Social Media Linked to Better Mental Health

    WEDNESDAY, Nov. 26, 2025 (HealthDay News) — For many young adults, social media is where life happens: Friendships, news, stress, all rolled into a single screen.

    But a new study suggests that stepping away, even for just one week, may help ease anxiety, depression and sleep problems.

    Researchers tracked 295 young adults ages 18 to 24 who agreed to limit their social media use for seven days. Each participant was paid $150 to be in the study.

    For the study, these young adults shrunk their average screen time from just under two hours a day on social platforms down to about 30 minutes a day.

    After the week ended, participants completed mental health surveys. On average, the researchers found:

    • Anxiety symptoms dropped by 16.1%

    • Depression symptoms dropped by 24.8%

    • Insomnia symptoms dropped by 14.5%

    The study, published Nov. 24 in JAMA Network Open, showed the biggest improvement in people who already had more serious depression symptoms.

    However, participants did not report changes in loneliness.

    Study co-author Dr. John Torous, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School in Boston, told The New York Times that cutting back on social media shouldn’t “be your first-line or your only form of care.”

    “If you’re struggling with a mental health condition, and you have treatment already,” he added, “it’s likely worth experimenting to see whether reducing social media helps you feel better.”

    He warned that the results aren’t a guarantee for everyone. Some participants felt much better, while others noticed little change.

    “The averages are encouraging,” he said, “but they definitely don’t tell the full story, the variance was just so tremendous.”

    One reason is that the study was not a randomized trial. Instead, people volunteered to take part, which means they may have expected improvements before the trial.

    “The subjects would have known how they were expected to behave, and likely simply changed their responses accordingly,” Christopher Ferguson, a psychology professor at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida who was not involved in the research, told The Times.

    Other experts, however, say the findings still add something useful to the ongoing conversation about social media and mental health.

    Mitch Prinstein, chief science officer of the American Psychological Association, called social media breaks “a simple and free solution that seems to lead to quick improvement.”

    “This is a solution that will empower most parents and young people themselves,” he said in a report published by The Times. “Use far less social media, and there is a reasonable chance that young people will start to feel a lot better.”

    But experts in the field stress that results have been mixed in previous studies. Some research has found only small or no benefits from “digital detoxes,” and it’s uncertain whether the effects last long term.

    SOURCE: The New York Times, Nov. 24, 2025

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  • Quitting a GLP-1 Before Pregnancy Linked to Higher Weight Gain, Complications

    By Ernie Mundell HealthDay ReporterTUESDAY, Nov. 25, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Women who stop taking a GLP-1 weight loss/diabetes medication just prior to a pregnancy appear to be at higher odds for excess weight gain and complications while pregnant, new research shows.

    As the study authors pointed out, potential risks to the fetus of using a GLP-1 while pregnant remain unclear, so current recommendations advise discontinuing the drugs prior to or during a pregnancy.

    However, doing so may bring about its own hazards, concluded a team from Mass General Brigham in Boston.

    “Additional studies are needed on the balance of pre-pregnancy benefits of GLP-1s with the risks associated with interrupting them for pregnancy,” said study senior author Dr. Camille Powe. She’s a Mass General Brigham endocrinologist and co-director of the Diabetes in Pregnancy Program at Massachusetts General Hospital.

    According to study lead author and pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Jacqueline Maya, the use of GLP-1s by women “has increased dramatically.”

    Speaking in a hospital news release, she said the study focused on how GLP-1 “discontinuation affects weight gain and outcomes during pregnancy.”

    To do so, the researchers tracked the medical records of almost 1,800 pregnancies cared for by the Mass General Brigham healthcare system between 2016 and 2025.

    Most of these pregnancies occurred among women with obesity.

    Outcomes for women who had received a GLP-1 prescription “within three years before and up to 90 days after conception” were compared to women who had not gotten a GLP-1 prescription during that time.

    Differences in outcomes were significant.

    Women who’d stopped the drugs prior to a pregnancy had an average weight gain during their pregnancy that was 7.2 pounds higher than women who hadn’t used a GLP-1, the researchers said.

    The GLP-1 group also had a 32% higher odds that the amount of weight they gained while pregnant was unhealthy.

    As for complications, women who’d discontinued a GLP-1 prior to pregnancy had a 30% higher risk of developing diabetes while pregnant, a 29% higher risk of blood pressure issues during pregnancy, and a 34% higher risk for preterm delivery, the study found.

    The team saw no differences when it came to risks for high or low birth weight or Cesarean delivery.

    Because the study was retrospective in nature, it couldn’t prove that GLP-1 discontinuation caused any excess in pregnancy risks, only find associations.

    Still, Powe said the findings might put women with obesity in a quandary when debating whether to use a GLP-1 prior to a pregnancy.

    “We need to do more research to find ways to help manage weight gain and reduce risks during pregnancy when stopping GLP-1 medications,” she said.

    Find out more about how GLP-1 medications work at the Mayo Clinic.

    SOURCE: Mass General Brigham, news release, Nov. 24, 2025

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  • These 6 Kitchen Tools Can Make or Break Your Thanksgiving Dinner

    It’s the start of Thanksgiving week, the time when home cooks across America suddenly recognize the daunting task ahead.

    More than 90% of people in the U.S. celebrate the food-centric holiday and more than 1 in 4 attend meals that include more than 10 other people, according to the Pew Research Center.

    Under that kind of pressure, what host wouldn’t want the best tools to make sure the holiday dinner goes off without a hitch?

    With that in mind, we asked national food safety experts which kitchen devices and aids are essential to ensure a safe and tasty Thanksgiving meal.

    Here are their top four suggestions for aids that can make or break your holiday dinner, plus two bonus tips for after the meal:

    Our panel of experts unanimously agreed that an instant-read digital thermometer is vital to making sure roast turkey and other dishes reach 165 degrees Fahrenheit (74 degrees Celsius) to eliminate the risk of food poisoning from germs like salmonella and Campylobacter.

    “This is non-negotiable,” said Darin Detwiler, a Northeastern University food safety expert. “A reliable thermometer ensures you’re not guessing, because guessing is not a food safety strategy.”


    Color-coded cutting boards

    In the hustle of a holiday kitchen, the risk of cross-contamination is real. That’s when germs from one food, such as raw turkey, may be spread to other foods, such as fresh vegetables or fruits.

    It’s best to use dedicated cutting boards for each type of food, and color-coding — red for meat, yellow for poultry, green for veggies — can help, said Barbara Kowalcyk, director of the Institute for Food Safety and Nutrition Security at George Washington University.

    “I try not to use wooden cutting boards,” said Kowalcyk, noting that they can retain bacteria that thrive and grow to large enough quantities to cause illness.

    As an emergency medicine doctor who has stitched up many Thanksgiving injuries, Dr. Tony Cirillo urges home cooks to make sure their kitchen knives are sharp.

    A sharp knife cuts cleanly, while a dull knife requires more pressure that can cause dangerous slips, said Cirillo, a spokesperson for the American College of Emergency Physicians.

    Pulling a hot turkey out of the oven is tricky, especially if the pan you cook it in is flimsy, Cirillo added. Use a sturdy metal roasting pan or, in a pinch, stack two foil roasting pans together for strength.

    “I’m a big fan of double-panning,” Cirillo said. “Dropping the turkey is generally not good on Thanksgiving.”

    Just as important as getting food to the table is making sure it doesn’t sit out too long, said Don Schaffner, a food safety expert at Rutgers University.

    Use a cooking timer or clock alarm to make sure to pack away leftovers within two hours to prevent bacterial growth that can cause illness.

    And when you’re storing those leftovers, make sure to put them in shallow containers, Schaffner said.

    Measure using a ruler — or even the short side of a credit card — to make sure that dense foods like stuffing and sweet potatoes reach a depth of no more than 2 inches (5 centimeters) to allow for quick and complete cooling in the refrigerator.

    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Bolsonaro’s Conviction Brings Vindication for Some Brazilians Who Lost Loved Ones to COVID-19

    SAO PAULO (AP) — Simone Guimarães, a retired 52-year-old teacher in Rio de Janeiro, lost at least five relatives to COVID-19: her husband, sister, two brothers-in-law and the godfather of her grandchild. She also lost friends and neighbors.

    “It’s a small beginning of justice starting to be served,” she said. “Impunity has to end at some point. And in his case, we endured a lot.”

    Social media filled with posts Saturday remembering people lost to COVID-19, which also happened in September when the Supreme Court convicted Bolsonaro, even though the legal case had nothing to do with the former president’s pandemic response.

    Guimarães followed every vote in Bolsonaro’s trial. She was at a hospital with her sister in 2021 when Bolsonaro, who was president at the time, mimicked patients gasping for air.

    “I had my forehead against my sister’s. She said, ‘I can’t breathe,’” Guimarães recalled. Her sister later died. “I can’t even bring myself to say his name.”

    She now feels indirectly vindicated, like many other Brazilians who lost relatives to the disease. They say Bolsonaro’s conviction and imprisonment cleansed their souls without delivering justice for their grief.

    “I’m very afraid that this conviction for crimes related to the coup will lessen the convictions for other crimes committed during the pandemic,” said Diego Orsi, a 41-year-old translator in Sao Paulo, the nation’s largest city. “I feel a bit like the Nuremberg trials had convicted the Nazis for invading Poland, and not for genocide.”


    Growing up and then apart

    Orsi grew up alongside his cousin, Henrique Cavalari. They were like brothers. In old family photos, the two appear together blowing out birthday candles.

    As teenagers, Cavalari introduced Orsi to rock bands. Politically, however, they drifted apart. Orsi considers himself progressive while Cavalari backed Bolsonaro.

    “My uncle always leaned right, and my cousin grew up with that mindset,” Orsi said. “During the pandemic, he became convinced there was nothing to worry about, that social distancing restricted freedom and the priority should be protecting the economy.”

    Cavalari ran a motorcycle repair shop and was a staunch Bolsonaro supporter. He couldn’t afford to close his shop and the far-right leader’s rhetoric resonated with the mechanics, who attended his rallies even during the deadliest months of the pandemic.

    Orsi wasn’t 100% sure if Cavalari was at the motorcycle rally, but said his cousin attended previous similar events.

    “He was newly married, paying rent on his business. He needed the money,” Orsi said, recalling he couldn’t visit Cavalari in the hospital intensive care unit because only immediate family was allowed. “But I was told one of the last things he said was to warn his parents to take care, that the disease was serious.”

    Orsi’s family remains divided, much like the rest of Brazil, and he believes Bolsonaro’s conviction will not change public opinion or reconcile other families.


    Feeling grief and vindication

    Bolsonaro denied wrongdoing during his trial. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected an appeal from his legal team, though another may come this week. Before his arrest Saturday, he had been under house arrest since August.

    “I would have preferred that he was arrested for allowing 700,000 Brazilians to die, many deaths that could have been avoided, perhaps by speeding up the vaccine rollout,” Orsi told The Associated Press. “But since he is being tried and convicted for other crimes, it cleanses our soul. It gives us a sense that justice has been served.”

    There have been more than 700,000 deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Brazil since 2020, the world’s second-highest toll after the United States.

    In 2021, epidemiologists at the Federal University of Pelotas estimated 4 in 5 of those deaths could have been avoided if the Bolsonaro administration had supported containment measures and accelerated vaccine purchases.

    Bolsonaro’s government ignored repeated pleas to sign additional vaccine contracts. He publicly questioned the reliability of shots and mocked contract terms, once suggesting Pfizer recipients would have no legal recourse if they “turned into alligators.” Brazil faced vaccine shortages and doses were released in phases by age and health risk.

    Cavalari died just weeks before he would have been eligible for his first dose, Orsi said.

    The same happened to the father of Fábio de Maria, a 45-year-old teacher in Sao Paulo.

    “When he was admitted to the hospital, he was about 15 days away from being eligible for his first shot,” de Maria said. “That delay was fatal for him and many others.”

    His father died in May 2021 at age 65. De Maria blames Bolsonaro and other officials he believes were complicit, but he said the former president’s conviction doesn’t bring justice.

    “Many people feel vindicated, and I don’t blame them. Bolsonaro provoked a lot of anger in many people, including me,” he said. “But I don’t believe there has been justice for those who died of COVID-19, because that is not why Bolsonaro was convicted.”


    Reaching a political turning point

    The pandemic marked a change in course for Bolsonaro’s popularity. During the 2022 campaign, which he lost to Lula, television ads replayed footage of Bolsonaro mocking patients struggling to breathe, which is a common COVID-19 symptom, and highlighted comments widely seen as dismissive of victims and their families.

    “Bolsonaro lost because of his denialist stance during the pandemic. The margin was very narrow,” said Eduardo Scolese, politics editor at the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper during Bolsonaro’s term and author of “1461 Dias na Trincheira” (”1461 Days in the Trenches”).

    The federal government was expected to coordinate Brazil’s early response, Scolese said, but Bolsonaro consistently downplayed the crisis.

    “No one knew how long it would last. Experts called for distancing, while he joined crowds,” Scolese said.

    As the Brazilian leader resisted public health measures, state and local governments imposed their own. The dispute reached the Supreme Court, which ruled states and municipalities could enact distancing, quarantines and other sanitary rules.

    “That’s when Bolsonaro lost control. He began to believe everyone was against him, especially the Supreme Court,” Scolese said.

    The case sat dormant until September, when Supreme Court Justice Flávio Dino ordered police to expand the investigation. The case remains underway and sealed.

    Eléonore Hughes reported from Rio de Janeiro.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Compensation Claims More Frequently Rejected For Families Of Black Murder Victims

    By Dennis Thompson HealthDay ReporterFRIDAY, Nov. 21, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Grieving families of Black murder victims are more likely to be denied their claims for victim compensation, a new study reports.

    These families are more likely to file for victim compensation following their loss, but face disproportionately high denial rates, researchers recently reported in the journal Race and Justice.

    “Victim compensation was designed to help grieving families, but current practices reinforce racial inequities instead of alleviating them,” lead researcher Daniel Semenza, director of research at the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center and associate professor at the Rutgers School of Public Health, said in a news release.

    In the United States, the federal government compensates victims to help them recover from violent crime, and every state now runs its own victim compensation program, researchers said in background notes.

    These programs typically reimburse crime victims directly for medical costs, mental health care, relocation assistance, lost wages, crime scene cleanup and funeral costs, researchers said.

    For the new study, researchers examined nearly 60,000 compensation claims filed by the families of murder victims across 18 states from 2015 to 2023.

    Families of Black murder victims filed the most claims, amounting to nearly 23,000 during the study period. By comparison, Hispanic families filed more than 14,000 claims, and white families more than 9,500.

    This makes sense, given that Black Americans represent just under 14% of the U.S. population but account for 54% of all murder victims, researchers noted.

    However, Black families were more likely to have their claims rejected, results show.

    The approval rate for claims from Black families was just under 82%, compared to 87% for white families and 89% for Hispanic families.

    “Families of Black homicide victims file the most victim compensation claims, but their claims are disproportionately denied,” Semenza said.

    Researchers found that “contributory misconduct” — the victim’s involvement in a criminal act — was the cited reason for 30% of all denials, but represented more than 57% of denials for claims from Black families.

    “This overrepresentation suggests that law enforcement’s assessment of victim behavior may disproportionately penalize Black victims and families, reinforcing racialized narratives of criminality and implicit victim blaming,” researchers wrote.

    In essence, Black families are denied support following their loved one’s murder, despite the family having nothing to do with criminal activity, researchers said.

    “This process pathologizes and punishes Black families, by suggesting that the victim’s alleged misconduct renders their family undeserving of support,” researchers concluded.

    SOURCES: Rutgers University, news release, Oct. 27, 2025; Race and Justice, Oct. 24, 2025

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  • U.S. Making No Progress In Protecting Pregnancy Health, March Of Dimes Report Card Says

    By Dennis Thompson HealthDay ReporterTHURSDAY, Nov. 20, 2025 (HealthDay News) — The United States has received another barely passing pregnancy health grade from the March of Dimes after another year in which 1 out of 10 babies were born prematurely.

    It’s the fourth consecutive year the nation has received a historically low D+ grade, the March of Dimes said in its 2025 Report Card.

    The national preterm rate remains at 10.4%, which means that nearly 380,000 babies were born prematurely in 2024.

    That rate is among the highest of all developed nations, the March of Dimes said.

    “As a clinician who has seen how much is possible when we get it right, these data are deeply frustrating,” Dr. Michael Warren, the March of Dimes chief medical and health officer, said in a news release.

    “We have known about risk factors for preterm birth, including prior history or preterm birth, chronic disease, and unequal access to care, for years,” Warren said.

    In the report card, the March of Dimes noted that:

    • Racial disparities are worsening, with preterm birth rates among Black moms nearly 50% higher than the overall rate.

    • Disparities also exist among women covered by Medicaid, who have a preterm rate of nearly 12% compared to under 10% for women with private insurance.

    • Fewer than 25% of pregnant women did not begin prenatal care in the first trimester — the fourth straight year of decline.

    • Conditions that contribute to premature births continue to increase among pregnant women, including high blood pressure by 6% and diabetes by 8%.

    Infant mortality remained stable at 5.6 deaths per 100,000 live births, with more than 20,000 babies dying before their first birthday in 2023.

    “This year’s report card shows that while we remain stalled in our progress on preterm birth, we are also losing ground in other critical areas of maternal and infant health,” Cindy Rahman, president & CEO of the March of Dimes, said in a news release.

    Black, American Indian/Alaskan Native, and Pacific Islander moms die at two to three times the rate of White moms during and after pregnancy, the report card said.

    “Our country is stuck in a maternal and infant health crisis where too many families are being forgotten,” Rahman said. “We must confront the systemic inequities that leave families of color and those covered by Medicaid at higher risk, improve access to early prenatal care, and tackle the growing burden of chronic disease — because every mom and baby deserves the chance for a healthy start.”

    The 2025 March of Dimes Report Card can be read here.

    SOURCES: March of Dimes, news release, Nov. 17, 2025; March of Dimes Report Card, 2025

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  • Ethiopia Confirms 3 Marburg Virus Deaths in New Outbreak

    ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia on Monday confirmed three deaths from the Marburg hemorrhagic virus that has been detected in an area neighboring South Sudan.

    Health Minister Mekdes Daba said Ethiopia’s government, which declared a Marburg outbreak on Friday, had conducted tests in 17 suspected cases in the country’s south. The outbreak was reported in the Omo region.

    The minister said there were no active cases but the government was taking preventive measures. A team from the World Health Organization and the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been dispatched to support with testing and outbreak control.

    South Sudan’s health ministry on Sunday issued a public health advisory to residents of four counties to wash their hands frequently and avoid contact with bodily fluids to prevent the spread of the virus. Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya last week called the outbreak a concern because South Sudan has a “fragile health system.”

    Like Ebola, the Marburg virus originates in fruit bats and spreads between people through close contact with the bodily fluids of infected individuals or with contaminated surfaces, such as soiled bedsheets. Without treatment, Marburg can be fatal in up to 88% of people who fall ill.

    Symptoms include fever, muscle pains, diarrhea, vomiting and, in some cases, death from severe blood loss. There is no authorized vaccine or treatment for Marburg.

    Marburg outbreaks and individual cases have in the past been recorded in Rwanda, Tanzania, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, Congo, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda and Ghana, according to WHO.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Families of Two Babies Sickened by Infantile Botulism Sue ByHeart Over Recalled Formula

    Stephen and Yurany Dexter, of Flagstaff, Arizona, said their 4-month-old daughter, Rose, had to be flown by air ambulance to a children’s hospital two hours from home and treated for several weeks this summer.

    Michael and Hanna Everett, of Richmond, Kentucky, said their daughter, Piper, also 4 months, was rushed to a hospital Nov. 8 with worsening symptoms of the rare and potentially deadly disease.

    The lawsuits, filed in federal courts in two states, allege that the ByHeart formula the babies consumed was defective and that the company was negligent in selling it. They seek financial payment for medical bills, emotional distress and other harm.

    Both families said they bought the organic formula to provide what they viewed as a natural, healthier alternative to traditional baby formulas, and that they were shocked and angered by the suffering their children endured.

    “I wouldn’t guess that a product designed for a helpless, developing human in the United States could cause something this severe,” said Stephen Dexter, 44.

    “She’s so little and you’re just helplessly watching this,” said Hanna Everett, 28. “It was awful.”

    Rose Dexter and Piper Everett are among at least 15 infants in a dozen states who have been sickened in the outbreak that began in August, according to federal and state health officials. No deaths have been reported.

    Both received the sole treatment available for botulism in children less than a year old: an IV medication called BabyBIG, made from the blood plasma of people immunized against the neurotoxins that cause the illness.

    Investigations into more potential botulism cases are pending after ByHeart, the New York-based formula manufacturer, recalled all of its formula nationwide on Tuesday. At least 84 U.S. babies have been treated for infantile botulism since August, including those in the outbreak, California officials said.

    The company sells about 200,000 cans of formula per month. It can take up to 30 days for signs of infantile botulism infection to appear, medical experts said.

    California officials confirmed that a sample from an open can of ByHeart formula fed to an infant who fell ill contained the type of bacteria that can lead to illness.

    The lawsuits filed Wednesday could be the first of many legal actions against ByHeart, said Bill Marler, a Seattle food safety lawyer who represents Dexter.

    “This company potentially faces an existential crisis,” he said.

    ByHeart officials didn’t respond to questions about the new lawsuits but said they would “address any legal claims in due course.”

    “We remain focused on ensuring that families using ByHeart products are aware of the recall and have factual information about steps they should take,” the company said in a statement.


    Parents fretted as babies grew sicker

    In Rose Dexter’s case, she received ByHeart formula within days of her birth in July after breast milk was insufficient, her father said. Stephen Dexter said he went to Whole Foods to find a “natural option.”

    “I’m a little concerned with things that are in food that may cause problems,” he said. “We do our best to buy something that says it’s organic.”

    But Rose, who was healthy at birth, didn’t thrive on the formula. She had trouble feeding and was fussy and fretful as she got sicker. On Aug. 31, when she was 8 weeks old, her parents couldn’t wake her.

    Rose was flown by air ambulance to Phoenix Children’s Hospital, where she stayed for nearly two weeks.

    Hanna Everett said she used ByHeart to supplement breastfeeding starting when Piper was 6 weeks old.

    “It’s supposed to be similar to breast milk,” she said.

    Last weekend, Piper started showing signs of illness. Everett said she became more worried when a friend told her ByHeart had recalled two lots of its Whole Nutrition Infant Formula. When a family member checked the empty cans, they matched the recalled lots.

    “I was like, ’Oh my god, we need to go to the ER,” Everett recalled.

    At Kentucky Children’s Hospital, Piper’s condition worsened rapidly. Her pupils stopped dilating correctly and she lost her gag reflex. Her head and arms became limp and floppy.

    Doctors immediately ordered doses of the BabyBIG medication, which had to be shipped from California, Everett said. In the meantime, Piper had to have a feeding tube and IV lines inserted.

    In both cases, the babies improved after receiving treatment. Rose went home in September and she no longer requires a feeding tube. Piper went home this week.

    They appear to be doing well on different formulas, the families said.

    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Infant Botulism in 10 US States Linked to Formula Being Recalled

    Federal and state health officials are investigating 13 cases in 10 states of infant botulism linked to baby formula that was being recalled, authorities said Saturday.

    ByHeart Inc. agreed to begin recalling two lots of the company’s Whole Nutrition Infant Formula, the Food and Drug Administration said in a statement.

    All 13 infants were hospitalized after consuming formula from two lots: 206VABP/251261P2 and 206VABP/251131P2.

    The cases occurred in Arizona, California, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas and Washington.

    No deaths were reported. The FDA said it was investigating how the contamination happened and whether it affected any other products.

    Available online and through major retailers, the product accounted for an estimated 1% of national formula sales, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    People who bought the recalled formula should record the lot number if possible before throwing it out or returning it to where it was purchased, the CDC said in a statement.

    They should use a dishwasher or hot, soapy water to clean items and surfaces that touched the formula. And they should seek medical care right away if an infant has consumed recalled formula and then had poor feeding, loss of head control, difficulty swallowing or decreased facial expression.

    Infant botulism is caused by a bacterium that produces toxins in the large intestine.

    Symptoms can take weeks to develop, so parents should keep vigilant, the CDC said.

    A ByHeart spokesperson did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Saturday.

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  • Pfizer Clinches Deal for Obesity Drug Developer Metsea After a Bidding War With Novo Nordisk

    NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer signed a deal to purchase development-stage obesity drugmaker Metsera Inc., winning a bidding war against Novo Nordisk, the Danish drugmaker behind weight-loss treatments Ozempic and Wegovy.

    Metsera, based in New York, has no products on the market, but it is developing oral and injectable treatments. That includes some potential treatments that could target lucrative fields for obesity and diabetes.

    The deal comes as Phizer is attempting to develop its own stake in that market, several months after ending development of a potential pill treatment for obesity.

    In a statement issued Friday, Metsera said Pfizer will acquire the company for up to $86.25 per share, consisting of $65.60 per share in cash and a contingent value right entitling holders to additional payments of up to $20.65 per share in cash.

    Metsera cited U.S. antitrust risks in Novo’s bid, saying in its statement that the board has determined Pfizer’s revised terms represent “the best transaction for shareholders, both from the perspective of value and certainty of closing.”

    Pfizer had also altered the offer it made in September of nearly $4.9 billion to provide more cash up front, Metsera had said.

    New York-based Pfizer said in an email that it was happy with the terms of the deal, and expects to close the transaction shortly following the Metsera shareholder meeting on Nov. 13.

    Novo’s proposed deal had involved paying $62.20 in cash for each Metsera share, up from its previous bid of $56.50. The Danish drugmaker planned to tack on a contingent value right payment of $24, another improvement from its previous bid, if certain development and regulatory milestones were met.

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  • COVID Vaccination Safer For Kids’ Heart Health Than Infection, Study Says

    By Dennis Thompson HealthDay ReporterTHURSDAY, Nov. 6, 2025 (HealthDay News) — The COVID vaccine is safer for kids’ heart health than if they become infected with the coronavirus, a new study has found.

    Children who get COVID have an increased risk of rare heart complications including blood clots, heart inflammation and low platelet counts that lasts up to a year after their infection, researchers report in the December issue of the journal, The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health.

    By comparison, COVID vaccination caused only a short-term higher risk in heart inflammation that lasted about a month, researchers said.

    “Although these conditions were rare, children and young people were more likely to experience heart, vascular or inflammatory problems after a COVID-19 infection than after having the vaccine — and the risks after infection lasted much longer,” lead researcher Alexia Sampri said in a news release. She’s a senior health data scientist with the University of Cambridge in the U.K.

    This is an early look that compares the longer-term risks of COVID vaccination with the risks posed by COVID infection, researchers said.

    Prior research has shown that vaccination can cause rare cases of myocarditis among young people, but that risk hadn’t been held up against the heart health risks that come with infection, researchers said.

    For the study, researchers analyzed health records for nearly 14 million children younger than 18 in England between 2020 and 2022, during the height of the COVID pandemic.

    During that period, 3.9 million children and teens had a first COVID diagnosis, and 3.4 million were vaccinated against COVID using mainly the Pfizer-BioNTech jab, researchers said.

    The team looked at a short list of specific rare complications that might occur following either COVID infection or vaccination:

    • Arterial and venous thrombosis (clots in blood vessels)

    • Thrombocytopenia (low levels of platelets in the blood)

    • Myocarditis or pericarditis (inflammation of the heart and its surrounding tissue, respectively)

    • Systemic inflammatory conditions

    After being infected with COVID, kids’ risks for these conditions rose within the first month of infection, researchers found. They were:

    • 2.3 times higher for artery clots and nearly 5 times higher for vein clots

    • 3.6 times higher for low levels of platelets

    • 3.5 times higher for myocarditis or pericarditis

    • Nearly 15 times higher for inflammatory conditions

    Infected children’s risk remained higher for up to 12 months later for vein blood clots (39%), low platelet levels (42%), and myocarditis or pericarditis (42%).

    On the other hand, the COVID vaccine increased only the risk of myocarditis or pericarditis by 84%, the study found. That elevated risk lasted for a  month following vaccination, then returned to normal levels.

    “Using electronic health records from all children and young people in England, we were able to study very rare but serious heart and clotting complications, and found higher and longer-lasting risks after COVID-19 infection than after vaccination,” said senior researcher Angela Wood, associate director of the British Heart Foundation Data Science Center.

    “Whilst vaccine-related risks are likely to remain rare and short-lived, future risks following infection could change as new variants emerge and immunity shifts,” she added in a news release.

    Overall, COVID infection led to 2.2 extra cases of myocarditis or pericarditis per 100,000 children, while COVID vaccination caused only 0.9 extra cases per 100,000, researchers said.

    “Parents and carers have faced difficult choices throughout the pandemic,” researcher Pia Hardelid, a professor at University College London, said in a news release. “By building a stronger evidence base on both infection and vaccination outcomes, we hope to support families and health care professionals to make decisions grounded in the best available data.”

    SOURCE: Health Data Research UK, news release, Nov. 4, 2025

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  • An American Man and His Son Die After Suffering Stings From a Swarm of Wasps While Ziplining in Laos

    BANGKOK (AP) — An American man and his teenage son died last month after they were swarmed by wasps while ziplining at an adventure camp in Laos and stung many dozens of times, a hospital official said Thursday.

    Dan Owen, the director of an international school in neighboring Vietnam, and his son Cooper were attacked by the insects on Oct. 15 at the Green Jungle Park, as they were descending from a tree at the end of the zip line.

    The camp is located outside the city of Luang Prabang, a popular tourist site in the Southeast Asian nation that was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995.

    The two were taken to a local clinic and then transported to Luang Prabang Provincial Hospital where they arrived in critical condition, said Jorvue Yianouchongteng, the emergency room physician who received them.

    “The son was unconscious and passed away after half an hour, while the father was conscious and passed away about three hours later,” he told The Associated Press. “We tried our best to save them but we couldn’t.”

    The doctor said both had suffered from severe anaphylactic shock after being stung more than 100 times across their bodies, but that exact cause of death had not been determined.

    The Asian giant hornet, known as the “murder hornet” due to its aggressive behavior toward other insects, is found in Laos but so are several other species of wasps. It was not clear which type had stung the two.

    The local clinic where the two were first treated refused to comment and the Green Jungle Park did not respond to a query from the AP. The Laos Foreign Ministry also did not respond to a request for comment.

    The U.S. State Department said it could confirm the deaths of two U.S. citizens in Luang Prabang but would not comment further “out of respect for the privacy of the family and loved ones.”

    In a Facebook post, Owen’s employer, Quality Schools International, praised him as “touching countless lives” during 18 years with the chain, which operates 35 schools around the world. It said he had worked at five of its schools and was director of the QSI International School of Haiphong in Vietnam at the time of his death.

    “He was deeply loved across our community and will be profoundly missed,” the school said. “Our sincere condolences go our to the Owen family and all who knew and loved them.”

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  • Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Sales Tumble After Government Guidance on the Shots Narrows

    The fall COVID-19 vaccine season is starting slowly for Pfizer, with U.S. sales of its Comirnaty shots sinking 25% after federal regulators narrowed recommendations on who should get them.

    Approval of updated shots also came several weeks later than usual, and Pfizer said Tuesday that hurt sales as well.

    Many Americans get vaccinations in the fall, to get protection from any disease surges in the coming winter. Experts say interest in COVID-19 shots has been declining, and that trend could pick up this fall due to anti-vaccine sentiment and confusion about whether the shots are necessary.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month stopped recommending COVID-19 shots for anyone, instead leaving the choice up to patients. The government agency said it was adopting recommendations made by advisers picked by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

    Before this year, U.S. health officials — following the advice of infectious disease experts — recommended annual COVID-19 boosters for all Americans ages 6 months and older. The idea was to update protection as the coronavirus evolves.

    Dr. Amesh Adaja said vaccine rates have been “suboptimal” in recent years even for people considered a high risk for catching a bad case of COVID-19.

    “That’s only going to fall off more this season,” the senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security said recently.

    The shifting guidance caused some confusion in September, once updated shots began arriving at drugstores, the main place Americans go to get vaccinated. Some locations required prescriptions or started asking customers if they had a condition that made them susceptible to a bad case of COVID-19.

    The change also created questions about whether insurance coverage would continue. A major industry group, America’s Health Insurance Plans, has since clarified that its members will cover the shots.

    CVS Health announced earlier this month that it will not require prescriptions at its stores and clinics.

    Independent pharmacy owner Theresa Tolle says this fall has probably been one of the more confusing seasons for her customers. Tolle runs the independent Bay Street Pharmacy in Sebastian, Florida.

    She said her COVID-19 vaccine business has been busy because she has an older patient population. Many still want the shots. But she’s also had more customers tell her this year that they don’t want them.

    “There’s just so many messages out there, they don’t know who to believe,” she said. “I’ve had people tell me they are afraid of it when they’ve had it many times.”

    Pfizer saw U.S. Comirnaty sales drop to $870 million in the recently completed third quarter from $1.16 billion in the same time frame last year. That came after vaccine sales rose the first two quarters of the year.

    Wall Street analysts also expect sales of Spikevax shots from Moderna to tumble about 50% in the third quarter, according to the data firm FactSet.

    Moderna will report its third-quarter results on Thursday.

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  • FDA’s Top Drug Regulator Resigns After Federal Officials Probe ‘Serious Concerns’

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the Food and Drug Administration’s drug center abruptly resigned Sunday after federal officials began reviewing “serious concerns about his personal conduct,” according to a government spokesperson.

    Dr. George Tidmarsh, who was named to the FDA post in July, was placed on leave Friday after officials in the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of General Counsel were notified of the issues, HHS press secretary Emily Hilliard said in an email. Tidmarsh then resigned Sunday morning.

    “Secretary Kennedy expects the highest ethical standards from all individuals serving under his leadership and remains committed to full transparency,” Hilliard said.

    The departure came the same day that a drugmaker connected to one of Tidmarsh’s former business associates filed a lawsuit alleging that he made “false and defamatory statements,” during his time at the FDA.

    The lawsuit, brought by Aurinia Pharmaceuticals, alleges that Tidmarsh used his FDA position to pursue a “longstanding personal vendetta” against the chair of the company’s board of directors, Kevin Tang.

    Tang previously served as a board member of several drugmakers where Tidmarsh was an executive, including La Jolla Pharmaceutical, and was involved in his ouster from those leadership positions, according to the lawsuit.

    Messages placed to Tidmarsh and his lawyer were not immediately returned late Sunday.

    Tidmarsh founded and led a series of pharmaceutical companies over several decades working in California’s pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Before joining the FDA, he also served as an adjunct professor at Stanford University. He was recruited to join the agency over the summer after meeting with FDA Commissioner Marty Makary.

    Tidmarsh’s ouster is the latest in a string of haphazard leadership changes at the agency, which has been rocked for months by firings, departures and controversial decisions on vaccines, fluoride and other products.

    Dr. Vinay Prasad, who oversees FDA’s vaccine and biologics center, resigned in July after coming under fire from conservative activists close to President Donald Trump, only to rejoin the agency two weeks later at the behest of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

    The FDA’s drug center, which Tidmarsh oversaw, has lost more than 1,000 staffers over the past year to layoffs or resignations, according to agency figures. The center is the largest division of the FDA and is responsible for the review, safety and quality control of prescription and over-the-counter medicines.

    In September, Tidmarsh drew public attention for a highly unusual post on LinkedIn stating that one of Aurinia Pharmaceutical’s products, a kidney drug, had “not been shown to provide a direct clinical benefit for patients.” It’s very unusual for an FDA regulator to single out individual companies and products in public comments online.

    According to the company’s lawsuit, Aurinia’s stock dropped 20% shortly after the post, wiping out more than $350 million in shareholder value.

    Tidmarsh later deleted the LinkedIn post and said he had posted it in his personal capacity, not as an FDA official.

    Aurinia’s lawsuit also alleges, among other things, that Tidmarsh used his post at FDA to target a type of thyroid drug made by another company, American Laboratories, where Tang also serves as board chair.

    The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court of Maryland, seeks compensatory and punitive damages and “to set the record straight,” according to the company.

    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • Thousands of Bicycles Take Over Dubai’s Busiest Highway as Part of a Fitness Challenge

    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — For a short while, bicycles took over Dubai ’s busiest highway on Sunday as part of an annual ride marking the city-state’s yearly fitness challenge.

    Thousands of cyclists rode down the 12-lane Sheikh Zayed Road on the weekend morning.

    Authorities shut down a portion of the expressway for the Dubai 30×30, a challenge that calls on residents of this sheikhdom in the United Arab Emirates to get 30 minutes of exercise each day in November.

    The road, also known as the E11, gives drivers a view of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, as well as Dubai’s silver, doughnut-shaped Museum of the Future and other sites.

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  • SNAP Benefits Cut off During Shutdown, Driving Long Lines at Food Pantries

    LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — People across the country formed long lines for free meals and groceries at food pantries and drive-through giveaways Saturday, after monthly benefits through the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, were suddenly cut off because of the ongoing government shutdown.

    In the New York borough of the Bronx, about 200 more people than usual showed up at the World of Life Christian Fellowship International pantry, many bundled in winter hats and coats and pushing collapsible shopping carts as they waited in a line that spanned multiple city blocks. Some arrived as early as 4 a.m. to choose from pallets of fruits, vegetables, bread, milk, juice, dry goods and prepared sandwiches.

    Mary Martin, who volunteers at the pantry, also relies on it regularly for food to supplement her SNAP payments. She said she usually splits her roughly $200 a month in SNAP benefits between herself and her two adult sons, one of whom has six children and is especially dependent on the assistance.

    “If I didn’t have the pantry to come to, I don’t know how we would make it,” Martin said.

    “I’m not gonna see my grandkids suffer.”

    The Department of Agriculture planned to withhold payments to the food program starting Saturday until two federal judges ordered the administration to make them. However it was unclear as to when the debit cards that beneficiaries use could be reloaded after the ruling, sparking fear and confusion among many recipients.

    In an apparent response to President Donald Trump, who said he would provide the money but wanted more legal direction from the court, U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell in Rhode Island ordered the government to report back by Monday on how it would fund SNAP accounts.

    McConnell, who was nominated by President Barack Obama, said the Trump administration must either make a full payment by that day or, if it decides to tap $3 billion in a contingency fund, figure out how to do that by Wednesday.

    The delay in SNAP payments, a major piece of the nation’s social safety net that serves about 42 million people, has highlighted the financial vulnerabilities that many face. At the Bronx food pantry, the Rev. John Udo-Okon said “people from all walks of life” are seeking help now.

    “The pantry is no longer for the poor, for the elderly, for the needy. The pantry now is for the whole community, everybody,” Udo-Okon said. “You see people will drive in their car and come and park and wait to see if they can get food.”

    In Austell, Georgia, people in hundreds of cars in drive-through lanes picked up nonperishable and perishable bags of food. Must Ministries said it handed out food to about 1,000 people, more than a typical bimonthly food delivery.

    Families in line said they worried about not getting SNAP benefits in time for Thanksgiving.

    At a drive-through food giveaway at the Calvary Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky, SNAP recipient James Jackson, 74, said he is frustrated that people are being hurt by decisions made in Washington and lawmakers should try harder to understand challenges brought by poverty and food insecurity.

    “If you’ve never been poor, you don’t know what it is to be poor,” Jackson said. “I hope that it turns around. I hope that people get their SNAP benefits, and I hope we just come together where we can love each other and feed each other and help each other.”

    While there is typically a long line for Calvary Baptist Church’s drive-through events, the Rev. Samuel L. Whitlow said, the walk-in food pantry has seen increased demand recently with roughly 60 additional people showing up this week.

    And in Norwich, Connecticut, the St. Vincent De Paul soup kitchen and food pantry had 10 extra volunteers working Saturday to help a wave of expected newcomers, making sure they felt comfortable and understood the services available. Besides groceries and hot meals, the site was providing pet food, toiletries and blood pressure checks.

    “They’re embarrassed. They have shame. So you have to deal with that as well,” director Jill Corbin said. “But we do our best to just try to welcome people.”

    Haigh reported from Norwich, Connecticut. Associated Press photographer Mike Stewart in Austell, Georgia, contributed.

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  • Uncertainty Over Federal Food Aid Deepens as the Shutdown Fight Reaches a Crisis Point

    The impacts on basic needs — food and medical care — underscored how the impasse is hitting homes across the United States. The Trump administration’s plans to freeze payments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program on Saturday were halted by federal judges, but the delay in payouts will still likely leave millions of people short on their grocery bills.

    It all added to the strain on the country, with a month of missed paychecks for federal workers and growing air travel delays. The shutdown is already the second longest in history and entered its second month on Saturday, yet there was little urgency in Washington to end it, with lawmakers away from Capitol Hill and both parties entrenched in their positions.

    The House has not met for legislative business in more than six weeks, while Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., closed his chamber for the weekend after bipartisan talks failed to achieve significant progress.

    Thune said he is hoping “the pressure starts to intensify, and the consequences of keeping the government shut down become even more real for everybody that they will express, hopefully new interest in trying to come up with a path forward.”

    The stalemate appears increasingly unsustainable as Republican President Donald Trump demands action and Democratic leaders warn that an uproar over rising health insurance costs will force Congress to act.

    “This weekend, Americans face a health care crisis unprecedented in modern times,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said this week.


    Delays and uncertainty around SNAP

    The Department of Agriculture planned to withhold payments to the food program on Saturday until two federal judges ordered the administration to make them. Trump said he would provide the money but wanted more legal direction from the court, which will not happen until Monday.

    The program serves about 1 in 8 Americans and costs about $8 billion per month. The judges agreed that the USDA needed to at least tap a contingency fund of about $5 billion to keep the program running. But that left some uncertainty about whether the department would use additional money or only provide partial benefits for the month.

    Benefits will already be delayed because it takes a week or more to load SNAP cards in many states.

    “The Trump administration needs to follow the law and fix this problem immediately by working closely with states to get nutritional assistance to the millions who rely on it as soon as possible,” House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said in a statement following the ruling.

    Republicans, in responding to Democratic demands to fund SNAP, say the program is in such a dire situation because Democrats have repeatedly voted against a short-term government funding bill.

    “We are now reaching a breaking point thanks to Democrats voting no on government funding, now 14 different times,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said at a news conference Friday.

    Trump injected himself into the debate late Thursday by suggesting that Republican senators, who hold the majority, end the shutdown by getting rid of the filibuster rules that prevent most legislation from advancing unless it has the support of at least 60 senators. Democrats have used the filibuster to block a funding bill in the Senate for weeks.

    Republican leaders quickly rejected Trump’s idea, but the discussion showed how desperate the fight has become.


    Health care subsidies expiring

    The annual sign-up period for the Affordable Care Act health insurance also begins Saturday, and there are sharp increases in what people are paying for coverage. Enhanced tax credits that help most enrollees pay for the health plans are set to expire next year.

    Democrats have rallied around a push to extend those credits and have refused to vote for government funding legislation until Congress acts.

    Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., spoke on the Senate floor this week about constituents who she said face premium increases of up to $2,000 a month if the credits expire.

    “I am hearing from families in my state today who are panicked,” she said. “The time to act is now.”

    If Congress does not extend the credits, subsidized enrollees will face cost increases of about 114%, or more than $1,000 per year, on average, health care research nonprofit KFF found.

    In the days before the start of open enrollment, Democratic politicians across the country warned that the cost increases would hit their constituents hard.

    In Wisconsin, for example, families on the ACA’s silver plan could see premium increases of roughly $12,500 to $24,500 annually depending on their location. Sixty-year-old couples could face increases ranging from nearly $19,900 to $33,150 annually.

    “No matter what the percentage is, it’s a hell of a lot,” Gov. Tony Evers, D-Wis., said.

    Some Republicans in Congress have been open to the idea of extending the subsidies, but they also want to make major changes to the health overhaul enacted while Democrat Barack Obama was president.

    Thune has offered Democrats a vote on extending the benefits, but has not guaranteed a result.


    Flight delays and missed paychecks

    Federal workers have now gone a month without a full paycheck, and the wear on the workforce is showing.

    Major unions representing federal employees have called for an end to the shutdown, putting more pressure on Democrats to back off their health care demands. The president of the union representing air traffic controllers was the latest to urge Congress to pass legislation reopening the government so federal workers can get paid, and then lawmakers can engage in bipartisan negotiation on health care.

    In a statement Friday, Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said that financial and mental strain was increasing on the workforce, “making it less safe with each passing day of the shutdown.”

    Associated Press writers Todd Richmond in Madison, Wis., and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.

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  • How A Brain Pressure Disorder Causes Vision Loss — And Who Might Be Affected

    By Dennis Thompson HealthDay ReporterTHURSDAY, Oct. 30, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Doctors think they’ve figured out a way to predict who might lose vision due to a high brain pressure disorder.

    Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) occurs when there’s unexplained pressure buildup in the fluid that cushions the brain in the skull, researchers explain in the journal Neurology.

    If untreated, IIH can lead to blindness, researchers said. It mainly affects women of childbearing age who are obese.

    Researchers found that changes in the optic disc – the place inside the eye where the optic nerve connects to the retina – can predict who will develop blind spots in their vision or lose sharpness of vision.

    “The number of cases of idiopathic intracranial hypertension has been increasing, and it mainly affects young women, so we need more information about who is more likely to develop vision problems and how that process works,” senior researcher Dr. Dagmar Beier, a clinical professor of neurology with the University of Southern Denmark, said in a news release.

    Symptoms associated with IIH include chronic, disabling headaches, double vision, loss of vision, hearing problems and nausea, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

    For the new study, researchers analyzed 154 people with IIH treated at two headache centers in Denmark between January 2018 and September 2022. The patients’ average age was 28.

    Of those, 147 had papilledema, or swelling of the optic disc due to high pressure in the cerebrospinal fluid surrounding the brain, researchers found.

    About 7 in 10 patients (69%) had developed scotomas, or blind spots in their vision that can be temporary or permanent, the study found. In addition, 1 in 4 (26%) had lost some sharpness of vision, also known as reduced visual acuity.

    All the patients received medicines to reduce their high brain pressure. After it went away, half still had scotomas and 13% still had reduced visual acuity, although none developed full-fledged blindness.

    Researchers identified two specific problems that led to vision loss among these patients.

    One group’s papilledema led to damage in the optic nerve fibers of the retina, causing blind spots.

    The other group’s papilledema caused problems in the macula – the center of the retina – which resulted in lost sharpness of vision.

    Based on this, researchers developed a scoresheet to help doctors predict which patients with IIH will go on to develop vision problems.

    “This score needs to be validated by external groups before it can be considered ready for use, but we identified the severity of papilledema and the disorganization of the inner layer of the retina as major predictors for who will have persistent vision problems,” Beier said.

    The findings were published Oct. 29.

    SOURCE: American Academy of Neurology, news release, Oct. 29, 2025

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  • Women Get More From Exercise Than Men

    By Dennis Thompson HealthDay ReporterWEDNESDAY, Oct. 29, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Women benefit much more from exercise than men, reaping many more gains with considerably less work, a new study reports.

    These results show that “one-size-fits-all” exercise guidelines are misguided, in that they assume both sexes derive the same benefit from the same amounts of exercise, researchers concluded.

    “Compared with male individuals, females derive equivalent health benefits with only half the exercise time,” wrote the research team led by Jiajin Chen, a research associate with the Xiamen University Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases in China. “The findings might have potential to encourage females to engage in physical activity.”

    For the study, researchers analyzed data collected on more than 85,000 participants in UK Biobank, a long-term health research project in the United Kingdom. The people in the study wore activity trackers on their wrists.

    Results showed that to reduce their risk of heart disease by 30%, men need to get 530 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical exercise each week.

    Women only need to exercise 250 minutes a week — less than half — to achieve a comparable benefit, researchers found.

    Overall, women who met the guideline target of 150 minutes of exercise weekly had a 22% lower risk of heart disease, compared to a 17% lower risk in men who met the same target.

    There are some possible reasons why women might respond better to exercise, researchers said.

    “Physiologically, circulating estrogen levels are much higher in females than in males, and estrogen can promote body fat loss during physical activity,” researchers wrote.

    Men and women also have crucial differences in the composition of their muscle mass that might help explain why exercise provides better benefits among females, researchers noted.

    These results come in the midst of a gender gap in which women are less physically active and less likely than men to properly address their heart disease risk factors, researchers said.

    “This study provides strong evidence that a one-size-fits-all approach cannot and should not be used to guide physical activity recommendations for men and women,” Dr. Emily Lau, director of the Women’s Heart Health Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, wrote in an accompanying editorial.

    “Despite this apparent female physical activity advantage, previous work has shown that women are consistently less physically active and less likely to achieve recommended activity targets, highlighting the need to more specifically tailor physical activity recommendations to women,” Lau added.

    SOURCES: Nature, news release, Oct. 27, 2025; Nature Cardiovascular Research, Oct. 27, 2025

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