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A Florida woman wanted to talk to the hospital about her 4-year-old son’s bill, but hospital officials said they couldn’t speak with her because the bill was in her son’s name. (NPR)
The FDA approved the first over-the-counter naloxone (Narcan) product for reversing opioid overdoses.
While over-the-counter naloxone could be lifesaving, some advocates are concerned the drug’s price and stigma could be barriers. (New York Times)
Also, the agency has issued a national strategy to ensure the resilience of the infant formula market.
Hospitals in Mississippi are on the verge of closing as the state’s lawmakers continue to reject Medicaid expansion in the midst of a budget surplus. (New York Times)
Healthy children might not need a COVID-19 booster shot, but the elderly and those at high risk should get one 6 to 12 months after their last vaccine, the World Health Organization (WHO) says. (Reuters)
In other WHO news, the global health body is considering adding weight-loss drugs to its list of essential medicines. (Reuters)
NIH scientists have discovered a new disease — Lyn kinase-associated vasculopathy and liver fibrosis (LAVLI) — which is associated with a mutation in the LYN gene, a regulator of immune responses.
Friends of Oscar-winning makeup artist Greg Cannom, who worked on the films “Dracula” and “The Lost Boys,” have set up a GoFundMe page to pay his medical bills; Cannom is suffering from multiple health problems and had one leg amputated below the knee. (Variety)
An aide to Sen. Rand Paul, MD (R-Ky.), was stabbed on Saturday and taken to a Washington hospital with life-threatening injuries; a 42-year-old man was arrested and charged with assault with intent to kill. (The Hill)
Lost weight but gained some of it back? No worries — your heart may still reap the benefits. (NBC News)
An Australian cultivated meat company has made a woolly mammoth meatball. (The Guardian)
Because treatments for spinal muscular atrophy have improved, tiny wheelchairs gather dust in a Maryland garage. (STAT)
It’s not just genetics, diet, and exercise; poverty and racism may also cause the body to age prematurely, a researcher says. (NPR)
An FDA advisory committee will meet in May to discuss whether to recommend approval of the first over-the-counter birth control pill in the U.S. (Reuters)
The Washington Post has a graphic 3-D rendering of the damage an AR-15 can do to the human body.
How anti-vaxxers terrorize grieving families on social media. (The Atlantic)
Funding for monitoring the health effects of the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio — a town near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border — is being considered by Pennsylvania lawmakers. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
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Joyce Frieden oversees MedPage Today’s Washington coverage, including stories about Congress, the White House, the Supreme Court, healthcare trade associations, and federal agencies. She has 35 years of experience covering health policy. Follow
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