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As stockpiles expire, states are ditching excess masks and pandemic gear in droves. (AP)
JN.1 is now the fastest-growing COVID variant in the U.S., causing about 21% of new SARS-CoV-2 infections, according to CDC estimates.
A federal judge barred expert witnesses from testifying that acetaminophen (Tylenol) can cause autism or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) if mothers take it during pregnancy, citing a lack of scientific support for the claims. (Reuters)
Here are solutions lawmakers, government officials, and industry experts have proposed to ease generic drug shortages. (New York Times)
The FBI offered a decryption tool to help healthcare facilities and other victims of the BlackCat ransomware group restore their systems.
The U.S. government spent more on healthcare in 2022 than Germany, the U.K., Italy, Spain, Austria, and France spent combined to provide universal healthcare coverage for all 335 million people in their countries. (STAT)
Scripps Clinical Medical Group in San Diego agreed to pay nearly $6.9 million to resolve allegations that it forced doctors to retire at age 75. (Reuters)
Interim trial data showed that omalizumab (Xolair) significantly increased the amounts of several common foods that food-allergic children and adolescents could consume without a reaction, the NIH said.
Fatal occupational injuries rose by 5.7% from 2021 to 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.
The FDA found lead in cinnamon at more than 2,000 times the agency’s maximum level at a plant in Ecuador that made fruit puree pouches. (AP)
Many presumed cases of anthrax in Uganda resulted in negative tests, suggesting a second disease might be circulating. (New York Times)
Researchers reported the first known case of vocal cord paralysis after SARS-CoV-2 infection in a teenager. (Pediatrics)
Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia announced plans to take over Pennsylvania-based Lehigh Valley Health Network. (CBS News Philadelphia)
A federal judge said the U.S. government will not be forced to turn over an unreviewed draft of a cancer incidence study at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune to attorneys representing people allegedly harmed by tainted water on the base. (Reuters)
The Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights coalition urged a prosecutor to drop criminal abuse-of-corpse charges against a woman who miscarried at home. (AP via The Hill)
Scientific American highlighted its biggest health and medicine stories of 2023.
Gamma brain wave stimulation showed promise in treating Alzheimer’s disease, according to a review in the Journal of Internal Medicine.
Here’s a look at how Bruce Willis and his family coped with his frontotemporal dementia this year. (Fox News)
New research revealed how retrograde cricopharyngeus dysfunction — the inability to burp — can affect quality of life. (Neurogastroenterology & Motility)
The SEC charged the former CEO of Stimwave Technologies with defrauding investors out of about $41 million by making false statements about one of the company’s medical device products that included a fake, non-functional component.
“Trip killers” — benzodiazepines or antipsychotics that people take to end a bad psychedelic drug trip — are a challenge for emergency physicians. (Emergency Medicine Journal)
The World Health Organization will close its equitable-access COVAX program at the end of the month.