The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has found that about 1 in 5 samples of retail milk contain traces of highly contagious bird flu, though these findings may not be indicative of an infectious risk to consumers. In an update published this week, the FDA shared some takeaways from its nationally representative commercial milk sampling study. "The agency continues to analyze this information; however, the initial results show about 1 in 5 of the retail samples tested are quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)-positive for [Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza] viral fragments, with a gre ..read more

Three women likely were infected with HIV after undergoing “vampire facials” at an unlicensed New Mexico spa, the first known instance of the virus being transmitted through cosmetic injection services.  The investigation shows the dangers of unlicensed establishments that mix medical procedures with beauty treatments.   According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released Thursday, the investigation began in summer 2018 when a woman with no known HIV risk factors was diagnosed.  The patient reported no injection drug use, recent blood transfusions, or ..read more

Republican attorneys general from 17 states have filed a lawsuit challenging a rule entitling workers to some abortion accommodations, alleging the regulation adopted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is in overreach.  The lawsuit led by Tennessee and Arkansas was filed in federal district court in eastern Arkansas on Thursday. It alleges that EEOC’s rule, which implemented the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), is in violation of the law.  The rule, implemented in mid-April, requires those covered under it to be given “reasonable accommodations” when it comes ..read more

The Supreme Court justice who authored the Dobbs ruling overturning Roe v. Wade jumped headlong Wednesday into the debate about whether a fetus is entitled to the same rights as a person.   Abortion-rights advocates were concerned ahead of arguments that the case about whether Idaho's abortion ban violated a federal emergency care law might be used to advance the fight for fetal rights.   The Department of Justice argued that the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) requires hospitals that take Medicare funds to provide stabilizing treatment to a patient in an ..read more

The World Health Organization is sounding the alarm on the use of alcohol and electronic cigarettes in adolescents, calling the widespread use "alarming" in a new analysis. The WHO, in a report published Thursday, said their findings show a "concerning picture" of substance use in youth, according to data from ages 11, 13 and 15 years. Alcohol is the most commonly used substance among adolescents, with 57 percent of 15-year-olds having tried alcohol at least once, per the report. This trend is slightly higher in girls when compared to boys — 59 percent to 56 percent, respectively. About 37 per ..read more

A coalition of Democrats called on the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to quickly remove marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), signaling impatience over the agency's ongoing review of cannabis's designation. The lawmakers were led by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and John Fetterman (Pa.) and Reps. Barbara Lee (Calif.) and Earl Blumenauer (Oreg.) in a letter addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland and DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. "We are now nearing eight months since the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommended rescheduling marijuana ..read more

The U.S. birth rate fell to a record low after seeing a bump during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday.  The provisional number of births in 2023 was 3,591,328, a 2 percent drop from the previous year, which saw 3,667,758 births.  "Last year, the difference was very small. This year, it's something on the order of 74,000 or thereabouts. So it's fairly large," CDC report author Brady Hamilton told CBS News. The birth rate declined by significant margins for some ethnic and racial groups.  The n ..read more

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has ordered bird flu tests for dairy cattle that cross state lines, it announced Wednesday.  “USDA has identified spread between cows within the same herd, spread from cows to poultry, spread between dairies associated with cattle movements, and cows without clinical signs that have tested positive,” the department said when announcing the federal order.  The cattle need to test negative for the Influenza A virus, which encompasses the bird flu, at “approved National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) laboratories." If the animals test ..read more

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, on Wednesday launched an investigation into the “outrageously high prices” of Novo Nordisk’s respective diabetes and weight loss drugs, Ozempic and Wegovy. On Wednesday, Sanders penned a letter to Novo Nordisk’s chief executive officer, Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, notifying him of the investigation and laying out his concerns with various price discrepancies between the drugs and pointing out concerns about the drugs’ pricing. “The scientists at Novo Nordisk deserve great credit for develop ..read more

Anthony Fauci, former chief medical adviser to President Biden, will testify before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic on June 3, making it the first time he will appear before a congressional panel since leaving government work at the end of 2022. Subcommittee Chair Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) announced the hearing Wednesday. Fauci had committed to testify late last year along with agreeing to two days of interviews, which took place in January. The closed-door interviews focused on gain-of-function research, alleged federal records violations, conflicts of interest and conf ..read more