More than 63,000 people died from a drug overdose last year – that’s more than the number of deaths caused by AIDS in 1995, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Between 2015 and 2016, the number of people who died from a drug overdose involving illicitly-manufactured fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, more […]
Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC)
CDC campaign uses testimonials to fight prescription opioid epidemic
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today launched a campaign featuring real-life stories of people recovering from opioid-use disorder and people whose loved ones have died due to a prescription opioid overdose. The campaign was designed to boost awareness among Americans about the risks linked with prescription opioids. 91 people die everyday in the U.S. from an […]
Former CDC chief Frieden to head $225m anti-heart disease initiative
Previous US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Tom Frieden said he will head Resolve, a new public health initiative focused on fighting heart disease and stroke which has already raised $225 million in backing from a handful of private philanthropies. They were also trying to fund another disease, you can read more […]
CDC gives $12m to states to fight opioid epidemic
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said today that it plans to award more than $12 million this week to 23 states and the District of Columbia to support their efforts in tackling the opioid overdose epidemic. The funding comes from the fiscal year 2017 omnibus appropriations bill that became law in May. States applied for […]
CDC chief propped up controversial anti-aging medicine in private practice
Before the newly-appointed CDC head Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald ran the public health department for the state of Georgia, she was a board-certified OB/GYN with a private practice. But according to a report from Forbes, she not only provided women’s healthcare in the 30 years she practiced medicine – she was also a fellow in “anti-aging medicine.” Get more […]
Ex-Georgia public health commish named to head CDC
The Trump administration today named obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fitzgerald, who ran twice for Congress in Georgia as a Republican without success, has served as chief of Georgia’s public health agency for the past six years. Since the agency’s previous director Dr. Tom Friedan left his […]
Ethicon touts new anti-infection suture guidelines
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) subsidiary Ethicon touted updated anti-infection suture guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which recommend that healthcare professionals “consider the use of triclosan-coated sutures for the prevention of SSI [surgical site infection].” Ethicon Plus Sutures are the only globally available sutures coated with triclosan that stop bacteria commonly associated with […]
U.S. CDC labs close over concerns about air hose safety issues
(Reuters) – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has closed down its highest security biosafety laboratories after discovering that hoses that supply air to scientists wearing special protective suits were never approved for that use, the agency said on Friday. “We have no evidence that anybody has suffered ill health effects from breathing […]
CDC warns on 3T heater-cooler from LivaNova’s Sorin
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention yesterday warned of the risk of serious bacterial infection in open heart surgery patients patients from a device made by Sorin, which merged last year with Cyberonics to form LivaNova (NSDQ:LIVN). The 3T heater-cooler device is used to maintain patients’ blood and organs at a specific temperature. The CDC said the devices may have been contaminated […]
Battling nightmare infections: the CDC’s plan to beat superbugs
White House tackles superbugs
(Reuters) – The White House is due to issue an ambitious plan to slow the growing and deadly problem of antibiotic resistance over the next 5 years, 1 that requires massive investments and policy changes from a broad array of U.S. government health agencies, according to a copy of the report reviewed by Reuters.