Measles deaths worldwide jumped 40% last year, health agencies say

ANTIVAXXERS FAVORITE TARGET

November 16, 2023 

LONDON (AP) — Measles deaths globally spiked by more than 40% last year and cases rose after vaccination levels dramatically dropped during the pandemic, leading health agencies said Thursday.

The highly infectious disease triggered epidemics in 37 countries last year, versus 22 countries in 2021. It sickened 9 million children and killed 136,00, mostly in poorer countries, the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a new report.

The number of measles cases also rose by nearly 20% after immunization levels dropped to their lowest in 15 years during the pandemic, the agencies said.

“The increase in measles outbreaks and deaths is staggering, but unfortunately, not unexpected given the declining vaccination rates we’ve seen in the past few years,” said CDC's John Vertefeuille, said in a statement.

Two doses of the measles vaccine are highly protective against the disease. Children in developing countries in Africa, Southeast Asia, Latin America and India are at highest risk. WHO and CDC said that immunization rates in poorer countries are about 66%, “a rate that shows no recovery at all from the backsliding during the pandemic.”

Measles is among the most infectious diseases known and spreads in the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. It is most common in children under 5. Symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose and a distinctive rash.

Most deaths are due to complications like encephalitis, severe dehydration, serious breathing problems and pneumonia. Complications are most likely in young children and adults over 30.

The disease has also surged in some rich countries in recent years. British health authorities warned in July that there was an extremely high risk of outbreaks in London, with some areas of the capital reporting that only 40% of children were vaccinated.

Immunization rates against measles in the U.K. have never fully recovered since spurious claims that linked the vaccine to autism were made by discredited British doctor Andrew Wakefield more than two decades ago. No scientific studies have ever confirmed the link, but Wakefield's research led to millions of parents worldwide abandoning the shot.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Dog of missing Colorado hiker found dead who stood by his side lost half her body weight

NATALIE NEYSA ALUND, USA TODAY
November 16, 2023




A 71-year-old man found dead more than two months after disappearing while hiking with his dog in southwest Colorado died as a result of hypothermia, officials said Thursday.

The dog survived but lost half of her body weight as a result of the ordeal.

Richard Moore of Pagosa Springs was reported missing Aug. 19, the Archuleta County Sheriff's Office said. He and his 3-year-old Jack Russell terrier Finney, disappeared after venturing into the Blackhead Peak area.

Officials told USA TODAY that's where Moore planned to climb the 12,500-foot mountain.

On Oct. 30, the sheriff's office said, a hunter found Moore's body in the Lower Blanco drainage basin.

Archuleta County Coroner Brad Hunt told USA TODAY Moore's cause of death was hypothermia. His manner of death, Hunt determined, was an accident.

More: Missing Colorado hiker's dog found alive, waiting by owner's body after months in wilderness
Dog survived despite losing more than half its body weight

Prior to finding Moore's body, authorities said they spent nearly 2,000 hours searching for the man and his faithful companion along the rugged terrain in the San Juan Mountains area about 35 miles north of the New Mexico state line.

Ryan Foster, a sheriff's office spokesperson, reported a hunter found the man's body and a dog guarding it, the Denver Gazette reported.

Finney wore a purple collar with her name on it, the outlet reported, and the dog was so emaciated the coller "was drooping off of her neck." Eventually, the outlet said, they were able to lure the dog away from her owner's body with a a can of wet dog food.

The dog and his late companion were then flown off the mountain by a recovery team.

Taos Search and Rescue President Delinda VanneBrightyn, who aided in the search, told the Associated Press Finney initially weighed 12 pounds, but had dropped to six pounds by the time she was rescued.

Finney has since been reunited with Moore's family.

VanneBrighty could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday morning.

Contributing: Amaris Encinas and The Associated Press

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Missing Colorado hiker's dog lost half its body weight

Facing an uncertain future, 70 endangered yellow-legged frogs released in California lake

ERIC LAGATTA, USA TODAY
November 16, 2023

More than 70 endangered mountain yellow-legged frogs were recently released into a lake located in the San Bernardino Mountains. The the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance's effort to save the California frog is part of a conservation breeding and reintroduction research program aimed at restoring populations of the declining species.

A species of frogs in Southern California whose future was once uncertain may have hope for survival in the wild thanks to a multi-agency breeding and reintroduction program.

More than 70 endangered mountain yellow-legged frogs have recently made their home in a lake in the San Bernardino Mountains, where wildlife researchers plan to monitor them to ensure they settle in and thrive.

The release marks the first time that the Southern California population of the species has been reintroduced into a lake instead of a mountain stream, according to a news release this week from the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. The alliance, a nonprofit conservation group, partnered with Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium in Omaha, Nebraska, to breed and raise the medium-sized frogs before releasing them into their natural habitat.

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Mountain yellow-legged frogs are endangered species

The mountain yellow-legged frogs, with their distinct pebbly skin, consist of two species − both of which have faced threats that have caused their populations to dwindle.

The southern mountain and Sierra Nevada varieties were both once abundant in high mountain lakes, ponds and streams throughout Southern California and the Southern Sierra Nevada, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

But their populations have shrunk thanks to threats from human encroachment, dams, climate change and pollution.

The endangered southern mountain yellow-legged frogs have experienced significant population decline since the 1960s, and as few as 500 of them may remain in their native habitats, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List. While the other Sierra Nevada population is not endangered, the species has similarly been on the decline and is listed as vulnerable.

That's why Debra Shier of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance said breeding programs for the species are critical for its survival.

"It’s important that we’re identifying and preserving suitable habitats in the mountain yellow-legged frogs’ native range that can hopefully prove hospitable for this species for years to come," Shier, the alliance's associate director of recovery ecology, said in a statement.
Yellow-legged frogs were bred between 2020 and 2022

The frogs were bred at San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s Beckman Center for Conservation Research between 2020 and 2022, and then reared at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium.

The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance has bred and reintroduced thousands of the frogs back into high-elevation mountain habitats since its program began in 2006.


The most recent cohort was bred between 2020 and 2022 at the wildlife alliance's Beckman Center for Conservation Research at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido. They were raised at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium in Nebraska before being brought back to California.

Other program partners include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Geological Survey, the release states.

“We have the unique ability to act as a remote head-start facility for the conservation recovery team and are committed to helping conserve these frogs,” Derek Benson, amphibian conservation researcher and lead keeper at the Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium, said in a statement. “We are thrilled to be part of the return of these animals to a historic site as the population rebounds.”

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More than 70 frogs released into San Bernardino lake

The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance team prepares more than 70 endangered mountain yellow-legged frogs to be released into a lake in the San Bernardino Mountains.

Once the more than 70 frogs were ready, the wildlife team released the animals into the San Bernardino Mountains in two waves.

The first group arrived from Omaha on the day of their release and were placed in a protective habitat at the lake for seven days as they adjusted to their new surroundings. Throughout the week, the team monitored the frogs daily and fed them a variety of insects, including those collected from their environment.

The second group of frogs arrived the following week and were released into the lake alongside the initial group.

Members of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance recently reintroduced more than 70 endangered mountain yellow-legged frogs into a lake located in the San Bernardino Mountains. This release marks the first time the Southern California species has been reintroduced into a lake instead of a mountain stream. The cross-country effort to save this California frog is part of a robust conservation breeding and reintroduction research program aimed at restoring populations of this declining species throughout its historic range.More

It was the first time the team released the frogs into a lake instead of a stream. Lakes are less likely to dry up in a drought, but the wildlife alliance said it will evaluate the frogs, which are microchipped, to determine which reintroduction strategy is more beneficial.

“Lakes have the advantage of more permanent water that is less likely to dry up in a drought,” Shier said. “When water habitats like streams do begin to lose water, adult frogs may be able to move, but tadpoles can’t."

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Yellow-legged frogs: Endangered species released in San Bernardino

WHEW THAT WAS CLOSE, EH

GM union workers ratify UAW deal following contentious vote

MICHAEL WAYLAND, CNBC
November 16, 2023 

Paul Sancya


DETROIT — General Motors union workers ratified a record deal with the United Auto Workers after a contentious final few days of voting, according to results posted Thursday morning by the union.

Much like the negotiations themselves, voting was not as smooth as many thought it would be. A majority of the Detroit automaker’s large assembly plants rejected the pact, however it wasn’t enough to offset support at smaller facilities and a handful of other assembly plants.

Ratification of the deal came under doubt Wednesday morning, after seven of GM’s 11 U.S. assembly plants rejected the pact. But a swing in voting results in favor of the deal, specifically at a SUV plant in Texas, gave the agreement a much needed lifeline.

According to the UAW’s vote tracker, the deal was supported by 54.7% of the nearly 36,000 autoworkers at GM who voted. The vote total was 19,683 in support versus 16,275 against — a margin of 3,409 votes.

Both the UAW and GM declined to comment on the results until they’ve been finalized.

Voting on similar contracts at Ford Motor and Chrysler-parent Stellantis is ongoing, with support of roughly 67% of unionized workers at each automaker who voted as of Thursday morning, according to the union. Barring any major shifts or swing in turnouts, those deals are likely to pass.

GM’s voting was closer, in part, due to the demographics of the company’s workforce. The automaker has the highest number of traditional workers on a percentage basis compared to its crosstown rivals. Such workers have voiced disapproval for the wage increases granted to them by the deals, compared to those offered to newer hires. They were also dissatisfied with pension contributions and retirement benefits.

For the union and UAW President Shawn Fain, the deals represent significant economic gains. They include 25% pay increases; a path to secure future jobs for union ranks such as battery plants; and a springboard for organizing efforts at other non-union automakers operating in the U.S. — a main goal of Fain moving forward.

For the companies as well as their investors, the contracts represent the top-end of forecasted increases in labor costs. While the automakers several times called foul on the union’s tactics, including six weeks of targeted strikes, they should be able to stomach the cost increases. That’s not to say they won’t be seeking offsets to the increases elsewhere in the forms of future investments, restructuring and other means.

Ford CFO John Lawler last month said the UAW deal, if ratified by members, would add $850 to $900 in costs per vehicle assembled. He said Ford will work to “find productivity and efficiencies and cost reductions throughout the company” to offset the additional costs and deliver on previously announced profitability targets.

DEATH BY CUTBACKS

After many close calls between planes, experts say the FAA needs better staffing and technology

DAVID KOENIG
November 15, 2023



Aviation experts who examined the Federal Aviation Administration's safety record say the agency needs better staffing, equipment and technology to cope with a surge in the most serious close calls between planes.

The group said Wednesday that the margin of safety in the nation's airspace is eroding and will get worse if nothing is done.

The outside experts tied most of the FAA's challenges to inadequate and inconsistent funding. They issued a 52-page report — while Congress raced to avoid a partial government shutdown — and said that the FAA should be insulated from annual funding battles in Washington.

The six-member group was headed by former FAA administrator Michael Huerta and included the most recent past chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates accidents and makes safety recommendations.

“The challenges facing the FAA developed over many years,” Huerta told reporters. “There are no easy, short-term fixes for many of these challenges.”

New FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said the agency will review the panel's recommendations “to help us pursue our goal of zero serious close calls.”


Whitaker was confirmed last month, ending a 19-month run during which the FAA lacked a Senate-approved leader.

The FAA has about 1,000 fewer fully certified controllers than it had 11 years ago, according to the report. Hiring fell by nearly half during the pandemic, and the agency's training center in Oklahoma City is a “bottleneck,” the group concluded.

“The FAA has made limited efforts to ensure adequate air traffic controller staffing at critical air traffic control facilities,” the experts added. The worst shortages are at key facilities in New York and Florida, which led the FAA to pressure airlines to reduce flights in the New York City area this summer and fall.

Controllers are also working more overtime, which “introduces risk” into the nation's airspace and leads to more absenteeism, lower productivity and fatigue, the panel said. Sometimes supervisors fill in when they should be supervising instead, the group wrote.

The FAA’s aging technology led to an outage in January that briefly caused flights to be grounded nationwide.

“The age and condition of FAA facilities and equipment are elevating system risk to unsustainable levels, even before considering losses in efficiency from outdated technology,” the panel wrote.

The FAA announced the panel after several close calls including one in February in which a FedEx cargo plane cleared to land flew about 100 feet (30 meters) over a Southwest Airlines jet that was cleared to take off from the same runway in Austin, Texas. In August, a private plane and a Southwest jet narrowly avoided colliding in San Diego.

Opinion: Fentanyl is a poison in the US-China relationship

PETER BERGEN, CNN
November 15, 2023 

Editor’s Note: Peter Bergen is CNN’s national security analyst, a vice president at New America, a professor of practice at Arizona State University and the host of the Audible podcast “In the Room With Peter Bergen,” also on Apple and Spotify. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion at CNN.

Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids kill tens of thousands of young Americans a year, and the compound is helping to poison the US relationship with China.

It was one of the issues on the table as the two leaders of the world’s most powerful economies, Chinese leader Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden, met outside San Francisco on Wednesday.

Synthetic opioid overdoses, most of them caused by fentanyl, are a leading cause of death in the United States for 18 to 45-year-olds, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The CDC estimates more than 100,000 people in the US died from drug overdoses in 2022 and most of these deaths were caused by fentanyl or other synthetic opioids.

The precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl primarily originate from China, though some also come from India. Those chemicals are then typically shipped to Mexico, where they are turned into fentanyl by Mexican drug cartels.

Last month, a delegation of US senators led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer met with Xi in China and demanded action on the Chinese supply of the chemicals that make fentanyl. On the trip, Schumer observed, “They are fueling the fentanyl crisis that is poisoning communities across the United States … Every one of us knows families who have lost young men and women to fentanyl.”

Chinese state media has said that fentanyl consumption is a US domestic problem.

Under pressure from the Trump administration, the Chinese government did designate fentanyl as a controlled substance in 2019, but that hasn’t stopped the precursor chemicals that are used to manufacture fentanyl from still making their way from China to Mexico.

CNN’s Phil Mattingly reports that a likely outcome of the Biden-Xi meeting Wednesday is an agreement by China to “crack down on the export of the source chemicals used to make fentanyl.”

If China can indeed get a handle on the flow of fentanyl precursor chemicals, that might help make a difference in preventing the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans succumbing each year to overdoses.

US President Joe Biden meeets Chinese President Xi Jinping in Woodside, California, on November 15. - Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Pharmaceutical fentanyl is a very powerful painkiller that is legitimately used in surgery. The drug is 50 times more powerful than heroin, according to the CDC.

A minuscule dose as small as two milligrams of the drug “can be lethal depending on a person’s body size, tolerance, and past usage,” according to the DEA.

In May, for the podcast “In the Room with Peter Bergen,” I spoke to Biden’s Deputy Homeland Security Adviser Josh Geltzer, a former New America colleague of mine, who painted a sobering image of the scope of the problem, explaining that “the quantity of (fentanyl) pills and powder combined seized by US law enforcement at our border last year was enough to kill every single American, potentially with a few pills left over.”

I also spoke to Sam Quinones, a journalist who has written two excellent books about America’s drug problems.Quinones told me, “Fentanyl tends to make it almost impossible for you to be what’s known as a functioning drug addict. Your entire life is devoted to fentanyl.”

Quinones also said that based on his research, even fentanyl users who have developed a tolerance for the drug generally only survive for around two years once they get hooked, given the potency of the drug.

Fentanyl test strips are a low-cost method of helping prevent drug overdoses. - Michael Siluk/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

For drug dealers, fentanyl is particularly appealing compared to drugs like heroin, which require growing poppies to produce opium, which is then refined into heroin. With fentanyl, you don’t need to grow anything; it can all be made in a makeshift lab.

The rise of fentanyl originated with the opioid crisis in the United States. Opioid users sometimes turned to heroin and some, eventually, to fentanyl, which first became a serious problem in the US around a decade ago, according to the CDC.

A new trend has amplified the problem, which is the addition of Xylazine, a horse tranquilizer known as tranq, to the fentanyl supply. Tranq can cause severe wounds in users that may require the amputation of limbs. The DEA says that about a quarter of fentanyl powder that was seized in the US in 2022 contained tranq.

While, of course, reducing demand for drugs in the United States is also key to this problem, it’s worth noting that this is not just an American demand problem; it is also a supply issue. Mexican cartels will often mix fentanyl in “with cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine, all to induce Americans to take fentanyl without knowing it and to get hooked on it,” according to DEA Administrator Anne Milgram.

As Geltzer observed to me, “For years, the kind of inherited wisdom on drug sales was that drug dealers wanted their clients hooked, but not dead. (But now) they seem to think that there are enough potential other buyers out there that if 60% of the fentanyl on the market is potentially lethal, so be it. And if they lose some users, they’ll sell to others.”

COMMODITY  FETISH

Rare Inverted Jenny stamp sold at auction for record-breaking $2 million to NY collector

DOC LOUALLEN, USA TODAY
November 15, 2023 

An ultra-rare stamp depicting an inverted Jenny airplane has been sold for a record $2 million at a New York auction, making it the most expensive U.S. stamp ever sold.

A 76-year-old New York man named Charles Hack purchased a rare postage stamp for a record-breaking price of $2 million at an auction on Wednesday.

The Inverted Jenny postage stamp features a Curtiss JN-4 airplane printed upside down by mistake, making it highly valuable since the production was stopped. The stamp's fame is due to its rarity and a printing error that resulted in an upside-down plane.

It's "the holy grail of postage," Hack told The Washington Post. And a piece of "American history."

The Inverted Jenny stamp is a highly coveted and iconic piece among philatelists. It is a rare collectible created to commemorate the inauguration of the first regular airmail service in the United States.

NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 02: A rare stamp known as an "Inverted Jenny" is displayed at the World Stamp Show in Manhattan on June 2, 2016 in New York City. The stamp, one of the most famous stamps in American history, was stolen from a display case at a convention in 1955 and only located last March. The stamp, which features an airplane printed upside-down, only surfaced at a New York auction house in April when an Irish man who had inherited it brought it in. 

(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The stamp is red, white, and blue colored and features an image of the Curtiss JN-4 airplane in the center, though it is printed upside down in error.

According to the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum, William T. Robey bought the first sheet of 100 Inverted Jenny errors on the stamps' release day, May 14, 1918, in Washington D.C., New York, and Philadelphia. Each stamp was originally worth $0.24.


The stamp sold on Wednesday is the finest Inverted Jenny in existence, according to Siegel auctioneers. It came from Position 49 on the sheet. Siegel auctioneers state that the item has been kept in a bank vault for 100 years and in the dark since its purchase in 2018.

Hack has been collecting stamps, including Inverted Jennys, since his childhood. In the early 2000s, he purchased an Inverted Jenny stamp for about $300,000. Hack stated to the Post that he plans to continue to protect the stamp from light and preserve it as it holds great value to him.

NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 02: An enlarged replica of a block of four rare United States airmail error stamps, known as the Inverted Jenny plate block, worth nearly $3 million November 2, 2005 in New York City. Stamp dealer Charles Shreve, who is standing in for stamp dealer Bill Gross, swapped the block of United States airmail error stamps for a rare 1-cent Z-grill stamp. With the completion of the trade, the block's owner, bond investor Bill Gross, will own what is believed to be the first complete collection of 19th-century United States stamps ever assembled. The 1-cent Z-grill stamp is a blue stamp depicting Benjamin Franklin that was issued in 1868 and named because of an experimental security grill. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Where was the rare stamp featured?

The Inverted Jenny stamps have become popular in pop culture. In a 1993 episode of "The Simpsons," Homer Simpson finds a sheet of stamps at a flea market but disregards them. Homer sifts through a box of American artifacts and discovers a sheet of Inverted Jennys.

Richard Pryor's character in the 1985 movie "Brewster's Millions" uses the stamp to mail a postcard.

It appeared in the 2019 episode "One Big Happy Family" of the legal drama For the People.

Controversy from Inverted Jenny stamp

In November 2006, during an election in Broward County, Florida, workers claimed to have discovered an Inverted Jenny stamp attached to an absentee ballot envelope. However, the sender did not provide any identification along with the ballot, so the ballot was automatically disqualified.

Peter Mastrangelo, the executive director of the American Philatelic Society, noted that the stamp needed to be more genuine as it differed from known copies, mainly due to its perforations. However, the colors had been reproduced accurately. Further investigations published the following month confirmed that the stamp was indeed a forgery.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Inverted Jenny stamp, a rare item, sold for $2 million to New York man

Woman travels to New Mexico for abortion care not offered to her in Texas, joins suit

NADINE EL-BAWAB AND MARY KEKATOS
November 15, 2023

After moving to Texas and getting engaged, Kimberly Manzano, 34, and her now-husband, 35, started trying to get pregnant in April 2022, hoping to share happy news with their friends and family at their wedding just a few months later.

Although the couple didn't find out they were pregnant until November 2022 -- two months after their wedding -- Manzano said they were excited.

That excitement turned to devastation not long after when she suffered a miscarriage.

"After meeting with our OB and knowing that everything was fine after the passing of the miscarriage, we wanted to try again," Manzano told ABC News. "So we were super excited when we found out in January -- just a couple months later -- that I was pregnant."

But, again Manzano said she was experiencing troubling symptoms from the beginning of her pregnancy leading up to when she made the difficult decision to travel to New Mexico for abortion care she was not offered in Texas, despite the "little to no chance her baby would survive more than a couple of days," if she was even able to carry to term, according to an amended lawsuit.

Manzano is one of seven additional women who joined a lawsuit this week against Texas arguing they were denied abortions despite having dangerous pregnancy complications. This brings the total number of plaintiffs in the suit to 22, of which 20 are women impacted by the bans and two are physicians suing on behalf of themselves and their patients.

PHOTO: Kimberly Manzano and her husband. Manzano says she was denied abortion care in Texas despite a dangerous pregnancy complication. (Courtesy of Kimberly Manzano)

The suit, first filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights in March, was the first to be filed by women impacted by abortion bans since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, ending federal protections for abortion rights.

Texas has multiple overlapping abortion bans in place, including a trigger ban that went into effect in August 2022, prohibiting abortions at nearly all stages of pregnancy and making it a felony to provide the procedure.

MORE: 8 women join suit against Texas over abortion bans, claim their lives were put in danger

Another ban, called SB 8 – which went into effect in September 2021 – allows private citizens to bring civil suits if they "reasonably believed" that person performed an abortion or assisted someone with getting one. The ban also imposes severe criminal penalties including up to life in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
Complications throughout the pregnancy

Manzano first grew concerned when she started experiencing sharp pain in her upper abdomen and said she was afraid she was miscarrying again. But when she and her husband went to the emergency room, Manzano was told she had bleeding between her uterine wall and the fetus's amniotic sac.

Emergency staff recommended Manzano follow up with her OB-GYN. A sonogram showed there was an irregular growth on the fetus' spine, so Manzano was referred to a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at 10 weeks.

The MFM said he believed the fetus had amniotic band syndrome, which occurs when the inner lining of the amniotic sac is damaged during pregnancy, creating strings of tissue -- or bands -- that wrap around different parts of the body and prevent the fetus from growing normally.

"We couldn't see anything from the right femur down so there was no limb from basically the right knee down,” Manzano said.

PHOTO: Pro Choice protest (Dominic McGrath/PA Wire via AP, FILE)

A second MFM confirmed organs were outside the body and that a limb was missing but recommended an MRI to determine whether the pregnancy was viable. In the midst of this, she learned she was having a son.

The scan at 20 weeks confirmed the fetus's spinal cord hadn't closed so spinal fluid was leaking. Genitalia had not developed and the fetus was missing a bladder and a kidney. There was also an abdominal wall defect from the cord to the pelvic area. If she carried to term, the baby could be stillborn.

Continuing the pregnancy was also a risk to Manzano because the fetus' urine was leaking into her uterus, which could lead to an infection.

"We sat in that room and … our hearts broke," Manzano said. "We held on to every hope. We waited at every appointment. We sought second opinions, we sought pediatric surgeons. We did everything we could."
Traveling for an abortion

Although Manzano's health was at risk by continuing the pregnancy, she did not qualify for an abortion under Texas' exceptions because her life was not in danger. Additionally, the law has no exceptions for fatal fetal anomalies.


The MFM told them that because of Texas laws, there was nothing that he could do and referred the couple to a clinic in New Mexico.

"He basically said that my hands are tied," Manzano said. "There's nothing more I can do. But he told my husband, 'If you and Kimberly decide to terminate the pregnancy, I cannot do it. But I do have a clinic that used to be here in Dallas so that's now strictly in New Mexico. We can refer you to them.'"

Manzano is a Christian so she said she prayed with her husband and pastor about it, spoke to family and friends and made the decision to travel to New Mexico for an abortion.

Prior to this experience, Manzano had considered herself anti-abortion. However, she said her views have since changed. She even stopped donating to anti-abortion groups, according to the lawsuit.

Before the abortion, she said she remembered reading the story of Lauren Miller, one of the original plaintiffs in the CRR lawsuit and another Texan. Miller, who became pregnant with twins last year, said she had to travel out of state to get care to save her life and the life of one of the unborn twins after she learned the other was not viable.

"I've always claimed to be such a big Christian but who am I to judge these women?" Manzano said. "And I think that's when it all came together that my mind changed. I took a couple of weeks off, I went back to work and I remembered Lauren [Miller]'s story and I was like, 'Where did I see this? Where did I see this story?'"

Miller, another plaintiff in the lawsuit, was pregnant with twins when one of the babies received a diagnosis of trisomy 18 and several abnormalities and was unlikely to survive birth. The pregnancy posed a risk to her health and the health of the other twin so she traveled out of state to receive care.

Manzano then contacted the CRR and joined the lawsuit.
Lawsuit goes before state Supreme Court

The lawsuit is asking a judge to temporarily and permanently suspend the Texas law due to the uncertainty surrounding the meaning of the exception in the state's abortion bans. The suit also alleged the abortion bans have caused and threaten to cause irreparable injury to all the plaintiffs involved.

The CRR lawyers will appear before the Texas Supreme Court on Nov. 28, where the court will determine whether it will allow a preliminary injunction on the bans when it comes to pregnancies that pose a risk to a mother's health or pregnancies with fatal fetal anomalies, according to Nick Kabat, staff attorney with the CRR.

The court will also issue a ruling on the state's attempt to have the lawsuit thrown out. If it denies the state's request to dismiss the case – in whole or in part – then the lawsuit will return to the district court for litigation, according to Kabat. From there, it could take months or a year for the case to be litigated.

"There is the possibility that the Texas Supreme Court will side with the state and rule that the only relief pregnant people in Texas have is to go ask their Texas legislators for a change. In that case, it wouldn't return [the case to district court] and we have to pursue other avenues," Kabat told ABC News.

MORE: Women, doctors announce legal action against abortion bans in 3 states

PHOTO: Lauren Miller, who had to travel to Colorado to have an abortion for one of her twins, at home in Dallas, March 5, 2023. (Nitashia Johnson/The New York Times via Redux Pictures)

Kabat said the CRR does not currently have plans to add any more women as plaintiffs in its challenge of Texas' abortion bans, but said it would be willing to add more women to the suit who have been impacted by the bans.

In September, the CRR announced legal action in three states where women were denied care despite having dangerous pregnancy complications. Kabat also said the CRR is aware of stories of women in other states who have been impacted by bans, but did not reveal any plans for more lawsuits.

"We're talking to women on the ground and considering our ability to file a lawsuit in another state," he said. "At the moment, we have our cases going in Texas, in Tennessee, in Idaho, as well as our cases in a bunch of other states that are not specifically focused on medical exemptions and we'll keep exploring the ability to expand the strategy."

Manzano said she still wants to have children so she and her husband are undergoing IVF treatment. She hopes her story brings awareness about how far Texas women often have to travel for reproductive health care

"You shouldn't have to travel for basic health care," she said. "Women's health care is basic health care and no one should ever have to travel or feel criminalized for basic treatment. My family deserved better, my son's life deserved better. and I just hope that Texas can do better."

Woman travels to New Mexico for abortion care not offered to her in Texas, joins suit originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

Torn ACLs may heal with therapy instead of surgery, though some surgeons aren’t convinced (NAKED SELF INTEREST)

KATIE CAMERO AND JESSICA HERZBERG
November 15, 2023 

Erik Isakson

ACL tears are one of the most common and debilitating knee injuries that can hobble both professional and amateur athletes.

It’s long been thought that a torn ACL, or anterior cruciate ligament, has limited ability to heal on its own and requires surgery.

Recent research suggests that a nonsurgical treatment, including physical therapy, could be as effective, sparking controversy among surgeons who perform dozens of ACL reconstructions every year.

The study, published in June in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, found that 90% of ACL tears in 80 participants showed signs of healing on an MRI after they followed a new bracing protocol.

Many of the patients, mostly competitive or recreational athletes, also reported good knee stability and function, and were able to return to their sport a year later.

Patients wore a brace for a month that kept their knees at a 90 degree angle: a position that keeps the torn ends of the ACL closest together, increasing the likelihood they fuse, said Stephanie Filbay, lead author of the study and senior research associate with the Center for Health, Exercise and Sports Medicine at the University of Melbourne in Australia.

Over the next two months, patients underwent physical therapy as their braces were slowly adjusted to increase the range of motion. Braces were removed around the three-month mark. MRIs performed then, and again at six months, revealed that most ACLs repaired themselves.

“We have now braced over 430 patients in clinical practice, with similar high rates of ACL healing and excellent patient outcomes,” Filbay wrote in an email.

What is the ACL?

Running diagonally in the middle of the knee, the ACL helps maintain rotational stability and prevents the shinbone (tibia) from slipping in front of the thigh bone (femur).

Sharp changes in direction, quick stops or direct hits — all common movements in sports such as soccer, basketball, skiing and football — can slightly tear the ligament or snap it in two. About 100,000 to 200,000 people suffer a torn ACL each year in the United States, experts estimate.

The ACL is one of the most commonly injured ligaments in the knee, and often occurs along with damage to other parts of the knee like the meniscus, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

Surgery is almost always recommended to repair a torn ACL, which involves replacing the ligament with a new one called a graft made of tissue from a patient’s kneecap tendons or hamstrings, or from a donor.

Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Lutul Farrow, director of clinical operations for sports medicine with the Cleveland Clinic, said surgery can reliably get people back to their activities at full function in a short amount of time with smaller risks of future injury. He wasn't part of the new study.

Yet, surgery can have complications. Some may experience kneecap pain, chronic instability or stiffness after surgery, the AAOS says. While rare, more serious complications can include infection, blood clots and numbness.

Although the new study didn’t follow up with patients long term, researchers analyzed the results of a separate trial from 2022 including 120 ACL tears. They found that after two years, a third of injuries in people who were randomly selected to undergo physical therapy showed signs of healing on an MRI.

Why bracing instead of surgery can help healing

“This study could be a game changer,” said Dr. Lyle Micheli, an orthopedic surgeon at Boston Children’s Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School, who was not involved in the new research.

Keeping patients’ injured knees at 90 degrees immobilizes torn ACLs in a way that “maximizes” healing, he said, similar to stabilizing broken and fractured bones inside a cast.

The research also suggests that nonoperative treatment could be a viable option for people who don’t play professional or competitive sports or can’t get surgery because of financial or health complications, he said.

Dr. Robert Sallis, director, sports medicine fellowship at Kaiser Permanente Fontana Medical Center, argues that it takes several weeks for stiffness and swelling in the injured knee to subside before patients can safely undergo surgery anyway — so the idea of waiting and bracing doesn’t hurt.

“ACL surgery has a big role in managing ACL tears, but too often the nonoperative treatment is ignored,” said Sallis, who is also chief medical officer for the Major League Soccer team Los Angeles FC.

Does knee surgery help arthritis?

Dr. Maryam Saidy, a 40-year-old colorectal surgeon with Kaiser Permanente in California, wasn’t offered an alternative to surgery when she tore her ACL in 2008 during a recreational basketball game. The operation left her with scar tissue that prevented the full range of motion, early arthritis and a permanent limp.

It took two years of physical therapy before she could play basketball again.

About a decade later, Saidy tore the same ACL again in January. This time, two surgeons suggested physical therapy as treatment. In three months, she was back on the court.

“It was a lot easier,” the second time around, she said. “I’m perfectly happy with how life is right now with my knee.”

More than half of the people who tear their ACLs develop osteoarthritis — when cartilage within a joint breaks down and causes pain, stiffness and swelling.

ACL reconstruction has long been thought to reduce risks of developing the condition, but more recent research shows that about 50% of patients who have surgery still develop it within 12 to 14 years.

“Reconstruction doesn’t save you from that fate,” Sallis said. “If you don’t have to have surgery, shouldn’t you consider other options, especially if the outcome is the same?”

How surgery may help prevent future injury

While some experts agree that not all torn ACLs require surgery, others aren’t convinced that bracing injured knees will lead to the long-term stability needed to prevent further injury.

Cleveland Clinic's Farrow said keeping the knee in a limited position for months can be inconvenient for daily activities such as going to school or work.

It takes about a year, on average, to safely return to sports after tearing the ACL, regardless if the person got surgery or not, experts say.

Farrow questioned how stable a torn ACL that healed on its own would be, compared to a reconstructed one.

An unstable knee could contribute to a potential tear of the meniscus — the shock-absorbing cushion of cartilage in the knee — which increases risks of osteoarthritis. ACL reconstruction can protect the meniscus from injury, doctors say.

A weak knee can also lead to another ACL tear. In fact, 11 patients (14%) in the new study re-injured their ACL.

However, Filbay said, she’s working with more than 60 people who have had surgery on one knee and completed the bracing protocol on the other.

Most of these patients, she said, felt that recovery after bracing “was faster, return to sport was easier, and their knee felt better” compared to recovery post surgery.

Still, some experts think the risks are not worth the benefits.

“If a collegiate athlete has a complete tear and you send them back to sports without a surgery, it’s close to malpractice,” Farrow said.

Dr. Riley Williams, head team orthopedic surgeon for the Brooklyn Nets who also works with the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, said people may not know how well the treatment worked until they return to the sport.

"If it didn’t, then that would have a catastrophic effect on the function,” he said.

'We're releasing life': Heat wave speeds turtle hatching in Peru


November 15, 2023 



SAN JOSE DE LUPUNA, Peru (Reuters) - In the Peruvian Amazon, an extended heat wave and drought have shortened the incubation period for thousands of turtle hatchlings released into the river by biologists as part of a local environmental program.

Around 3,200 yellow-spotted Amazon river turtles, known locally as taricayas, were freed as part of a plan to repopulate the species, which is threatened by hunting.

The tiny hatchlings were carefully carried in containers up to the shores of the river on Tuesday, then released with the help of local children.

The baby turtles quickly scurried into the water.

"We've experienced a drought this year a little on the strong side; that's why hatching has been a bit higher than in previous years since the sun is so strong," said biologist Zabryna Pipa Perea of the Amarumayu Movement, a private initiative dedicated to protecting the Amazon's native species.

Peru has the second-largest Amazonian rainforest territory, after neighboring Brazil.

The turtles, with brown or olive-colored shells, are known for their distinctive yellow spots and black scales. Hatchlings measure just a few centimeters long.

Normally, their incubation period lasts from 60 to 72 days, which this year was cut to around 45 days, according to Pipa.

"This is due to the high temperature and greater drought in the area," she said.

Since the beginning of the year, Peru has been facing the effects of the weather phenomenon known as El Niño, which produces an increase in the temperature of the Pacific Ocean and causes heavy rains on the coast, while triggering heat waves and droughts in other areas.

Scientists agree that conservation of the Amazon rainforest is vital to avoid catastrophic climate change, because of its capacity to absorb greenhouse gases.

But over the past two decades, more than 19,700 square kilometers (7,600 square miles) of the Peruvian Amazon have been destroyed, according to government data.

"We're releasing life. This year we're releasing 3,200 taricayas, bringing us up to 23,000 released (as part of the program)," Pipa said.

(Reporting by Alfredo Galarza and Marco Aquino; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Sandra Maler)

NTSB head calls deaths on America’s roads a ‘public health crisis’ as Ohio high school mourns 6 killed in crash


RAY SANCHEZ, ELIZABETH WOLFE AND RAJA RAZEK, CNN
November 15, 2023 

As an Ohio high school mourns three students, two parent chaperones and a teacher killed in a crash this week, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board on Wednesday called the 43,000 annual deaths on America’s roadways “a public health crisis.”

More than 50 students in a high school band and chaperones were traveling to a performance Tuesday morning in a charter bus that became entangled in a fiery wreck on Interstate 70 in Etna, about 20 miles from their destination in Columbus, state authorities said.

Sixteen NTSB representatives were at the crash site Wednesday, including nine investigators and two members of the agency’s family assistance program.

“Forty-three thousand people die on our roads annually,” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told reporters. “We have a public health crisis on our roads. And we need all hands on deck here. We need to take action to save lives.”

Homendy voiced frustration that NTSB safety recommendations issued over the years aren’t always implemented. “We’ve literally given entities a roadmap on how to save lives,” she said. “Change doesn’t occur.”

Tuscarawas Valley High School seniors John W. Mosley and Jeffery D. Worrell, both 18, and sophomore Katelyn Owens, 15, were killed, said district superintendent Derek Veransky. (Authorities previously provided a different spelling of Mosley’s name.) Three adults – teacher Dave Kennat, 56, and parents Kristy Gaynor, 39, and Shannon Wigfield, 45 – were following the bus in a separate vehicle and also died, school and highway patrol officials said.

The crash involved five vehicles: two passenger cars, the student charter bus, a tractor-trailer and another commercial motor vehicle, according to Homendy.

Homendy said investigators have data recorders from some vehicles, as well as camera footage from others not involved in the crash. The collision occurred an hour after another crash that backed up traffic on the interstate, she said. On the motor coach, there were no seat belts except for the driver.

“I’m a mom and I have a 15-year-old daughter,” the NTSB chair said, sounding emotional at times. “And so when I look at the vehicles, or I look at the roadway conditions … you can’t not think about the children that were involved, their families.”

Homendy praised “good Samaritans” and first responders who rushed to the scene after the crash, including a group of local officers headed to a training session at the time.

The students who died were “bright lights full of life who lost their lives way too young,” the superintendent said.

“Today began as an exciting day as our high school band would travel to Columbus to present at the Ohio School Boards Association conference – a once-in-a-lifetime event – and then it quickly turned into the darkest day, one of the darkest days in our district’s history and the worst day of my life,” Veransky said during a vigil Tuesday night in Zoarville, Ohio.

Scene of the fatal five-vehicle crash Tuesday morning on Interstate 70 near Columbus, Ohio. - Barbara Perenic/The Columbus Dispatch/AP

Two of the district’s band directors, Merri Gensley and Stephen Tripp, acted as “heroes” in the aftermath of the crash and worked to get students off the bus “one-by-one,” said district director of operations, Mark Murphy, during the vigil.

Details about the number of people injured have varied. The Ohio State Highway Patrol said 18 – including 15 students and the bus driver – were taken to hospitals. The school district said 20 of its students were taken to hospitals. As of Tuesday night, only two students remained in the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, the district said.

The drivers of two other vehicles were also taken to local hospitals, the state patrol said.

Schools in the district will remain open on Wednesday, Veransky said, noting students and staff may stay home if they want to.

“We don’t want any kids at home by themselves, so our doors will be open,” he said. “It will not be a typical school day. There will be many counselors and support staff from other community organizations here.”

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine called the incident “the worst nightmare that families can endure” and has ordered flags on government buildings at the capital and in Tuscarawas County to fly at half-staff in honor of the victims.

At a Wednesday event marking the 90th anniversary of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, DeWine asked for a moment of silence and prayer for the victims and families affected by the crash.

“There is no one in that community that is not feeling this pain,” the governor said.
Investigators to collect evidence at crash scene


A team of NTSB investigators began analyzing the crash scene Wednesday morning and will likely spend several days at the scene trying to determine how the crash unfolded, according to Homendy.

The team will look for evidence, including in-vehicle cameras and signs of whether any of the vehicles were carrying hazardous materials, she said.

While it is still unclear how the wreck unfolded, officials have a rough idea of where the vehicles were when the incident occurred, Homendy explained.

“The motorcoach (carrying students) was traveling westbound on I-70 near Etna. Behind the motorcoach was an SUV carrying passengers that were traveling with the group in the motorcoach,” she said. “They had approached a traffic queue that resulted from an earlier crash on I-70, and a tractor-trailer approached behind the SUV.”

While it typically takes a year or more for the NTSB to issue its final investigation reports, Homendy said a preliminary report should be issued within the next few weeks that will include factual information but no analysis.

The agency’s team also includes two personnel who are trained to work with victims’ families and survivors after significant events, she added.

CNN’s Ray Sanchez, Amy Simonson and Macie Goldfarb contributed to this report.

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Vehicles with higher, vertical front ends raise risks for pedestrians

November 14, 2023



Motor vehicles with higher, more vertical front ends raise risks for pedestrians, according to a highway safety organization.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said that whatever the nose shape, pickups, SUVs and vans with a hood height greater than 40 inches are about 45% more likely to cause fatalities in pedestrian crashes than cars and other vehicles with a hood height of 30 inches or less and a sloping profile.

But among vehicles with hood heights between 30 and 40 inches, a blunt, or more vertical, front end increases the risk to pedestrians.

The study released Tuesday arrives with roadway deaths in the U.S. mounting despite government test data showing vehicles have been getting safer. While the number of all car-related fatalities has trended upward over the last decade, pedestrians and cyclists have seen the sharpest rise: over 60% between 2011 and 2022.

IHS researchers looked at 17,897 crashes involving a single passenger vehicle and a single pedestrian. Using Vehicle Identification Numbers to identify the crash-involved vehicles, they calculated front-end measurements corresponding to 2,958 unique car, minivan, large van, SUV and pickup models from photographs. They excluded vehicles with pedestrian automatic emergency braking systems and controlled for other factors that could affect the likelihood of a fatality, such as the speed limit and age and sex of the struck pedestrian.

Vehicles with hoods more than 40 inches off the ground at the leading edge and a grille sloped at an angle of 65 degrees or less were 45% more likely to cause pedestrian fatalities than those with a similar slope and hood heights of 30 inches or less. Vehicles with hood heights of more than 40 inches and blunt front ends angled at greater than 65 degrees were 44% more likely to cause fatalities.

"Manufacturers can make vehicles less dangerous to pedestrians by lowering the front end of the hood and angling the grille and hood to create a sloped profile,” IIHS Senior Research Transportation Engineer Wen Hu, the lead author of the study, said in a statement on Tuesday. “There’s no functional benefit to these massive, blocky fronts.”

While sloping front ends did not reduce the risk posed by vehicles with the tallest hoods, they did make a difference for vehicles with hood heights of 30 inches to 40 inches.

There was a 25% increase in the risk of a fatality for vehicles with flat hoods — those with angles of 15 degrees or less — compared with vehicles with more sloping hoods. That was true regardless of height and front-end shape.