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UnitedHealth is testing the last major system it must restore from last month’s Change Healthcare cyberattack, but it has no date yet for finishing the recovery. The health care giant said Monday that it is testing software for submitting medical claims. Photos You Should See View All 60 ImagesEarlier this month, UnitedHealth said that it restored nearly all of Change Healthcare’s system for processing prescriptions. Late last week, the company restored Change Healthcare’s electronic payments platform, which involves billing and payments between care providers and payers like insurers. UnitedHealth said Monday that it is expanding temporary funding to support doctors and other care providers affected by the attack.

Persons: UnitedHealth Organizations: Healthcare, American Hospital Association, Federal, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP

NEW YORK (AP) — The nation's top public health agency is expanding a program that tests international travelers for COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. Those locations should provide more information about respiratory infections coming out of South America, Africa and Asia, particularly, CDC officials said. But they are given a COVID-19 home test kit to take with them, CDC officials say. That testing is for COVID-19, but CDC officials are evaluating the possibility of monitoring wastewater for other things, Walker said. The CDC program has a current budget of about $37 million.

Persons: ”, Allison Taylor Walker, Walker, Ginkgo Organizations: Disease Control, CDC, Health, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: COVID, Miami, South America, Africa, Asia, Chicago

WASHINGTON (AP) — When a total solar eclipse transforms day into night, will tortoises start acting romantic? They previously detected other strange animal behaviors in 2017 at a South Carolina zoo that was in the path of total darkness. This year’s full solar eclipse in North America crisscrosses a different route than in 2017 and occurs in a different season, giving researchers and citizen scientists opportunities to observe new habits. After the 2017 eclipse, he analyzed data from tracking devices previously placed on wild species to study habitat use. So do feral horses, “probably taking cover, responding to the possibility of a storm out on the open plains.”The last full U.S. solar eclipse to span coast to coast happened in late summer, in August.

Persons: ”, Adam Hartstone, Siamangs, gibbons, “ It’s, Jennifer Tsuruda, Tsuruda, of Alberta's Olav Rueppell, Nate Bickford, “, Andrew Farnsworth, Raffaela Lesch Organizations: WASHINGTON, Fort Worth Zoo, North Carolina State University, University of Tennessee, of Alberta's, Oregon Institute of Technology, Cornell University, University of Arkansas, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: Texas, South Carolina, Columbia , South Carolina, Hartstone, Little Rock , Arkansas, Toledo , Ohio, Indianapolis, North America

Amylyx said Friday it would discuss its plans for Relyvrio with patients and the FDA, which “may include voluntarily withdrawing” the drug. The latest company study showed that the drug did not slow the disease compared with a dummy treatment. Amylyx’s medication is part of a string of drugs for deadly, degenerative diseases that have won FDA approval in recent years despite questionable proof that they work. That commitment seemed to reassure FDA's advisers who voted in favor of the drug's approval, despite the questionable data. In the months before the decision the FDA faced intense pressure from ALS patients, advocates and members of Congress.

Persons: Lou Gehrig’s, Amylyx, ”, “, Relyvrio Organizations: WASHINGTON, Drug Administration, Amylyx Pharmaceuticals, Relyvrio, FDA, Cambridge, Amylyx Pharmaceuticals Inc, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: U.S

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ancient stone tools found in western Ukraine may be the oldest known evidence of early human presence in Europe, according to research published Wednesday in the journal Nature. Archaeologists used new methods to date the layers of sedimentary rock surrounding the tools to more than 1 million years old. The chipped stone tools were likely used for cutting meat and perhaps scraping animal hides, he said. The very earliest stone tools of this type were found in eastern Africa and date back to 2.8 million years ago, said Rick Potts, who directs the Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program. “The oldest humans with this old stone tool technology were able to colonize everywhere from warm Iberia (Spain) to Ukraine, where it's at least seasonally very cold – that’s an amazing level of adaptability,” said Potts.

Persons: ”, Mads Faurschou Knudsen, it's, Roman Garba, Rick Potts, “, Potts Organizations: WASHINGTON, Aarhus University, Czech Academy of Sciences, Smithsonian, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: Ukraine, Europe, Korolevo, Denmark, Spain, Africa, Iberia

Ground cinnamon sold by U.S. discount retailers is contaminated with high levels of lead and should be discarded, federal health officials said Wednesday. Cinnamon products included in the agency's safety alert include the La Fiesta brand sold by La Superior and SuperMercados; Marcum brand sold by Save A Lot stores; MK brands sold by SF Supermarket; Swad brand sold by Patel Brothers; El Chilar brand sold by La Joya Morelense; and Supreme Tradition brand sold by Dollar Tree and Family Dollar stores. Dollar Tree and Family Dollar stores have removed the cinnamon from their store shelves, a company spokesperson said. No illnesses or other health effects have been reported in connection with the new ground cinnamon alert, the FDA said. The FDA monitors foods for lead levels, but the U.S. government doesn’t broadly limit lead in food products.

Persons: Patel, La Joya Morelense Organizations: U.S, U.S . Food, Drug Administration, Fiesta, La Superior, SF, Patel Brothers, La, FDA, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: U.S

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Four astronauts headed to the International Space Station on Sunday where they will oversee the arrivals of two new rocketships during their half-year stint. SpaceX’s Falcon rocket blasted off from Kennedy Space Center, carrying NASA’s Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps and Russia’s Alexander Grebenkin. “When are you getting here already?” space station commander Andreas Mogensen asked via X, formerly Twitter, after three days of delay due to high wind. Epps should have launched to the space station on a Russian rocket in 2018, but was replaced for reasons never publicly disclosed. Flight controllers are monitoring a growing cabin leak on Russia’s side of the space station.

Persons: Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, Russia’s Alexander Grebenkin, “, Andreas Mogensen, Epps, Billy Joel, Dominick, Barratt, ” Barratt, Joel Montalbano Organizations: International, Kennedy Space Center, SpaceX, NASA, Sierra, Ford Motor Co, CIA, Navy, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla, U.S, Denmark, Japan, Russia, New York, Syracuse, N.Y, Russian

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronomers have discovered what may be the brightest object in the universe, a quasar with a black hole at its heart growing so fast that it swallows the equivalent of a sun a day. The record-breaking quasar shines 500 trillion times brighter than our sun. The black hole powering this distant quasar is more than 17 billion times more immense than our sun, an Australian-led team reported Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy. The rotating disk around the quasar's black hole — the luminous swirling gas and other matter from gobbled-up stars — is like a cosmic hurricane. Further analysis shows the mass of the black hole to be 17 to 19 billion times that of our sun, according to the team.

Persons: —, Christian Wolf, ”, Priyamvada Natarajan Organizations: —, Australian National University, Southern Observatory, ” Yale, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla, Australian, gobbled, Australia

A medication used to treat asthma can now be used to help people with food allergies avoid severe reactions, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday. Xolair, the brand name for the drug omalizumab, became the first medication approved to reduce allergic reactions caused by accidental exposure to food triggers. An estimated 17 million people in the U.S. have the type of food allergies that can cause rapid, serious symptoms, including severe, whole-body reactions that are potentially deadly. Wood estimated that 25% to 50% of people with food allergies, particularly children and young adults, would elect to use Xolair. The drug has been used “off-label” to treat food allergies, said Dr. Ruchi Gupta, director of the Center for Food Allergy & Asthma Research at Northwestern University.

Persons: Xolair, ”, Robert Wood, Wood, Ruchi Gupta Organizations: U.S . Food, Drug Administration, Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, FDA, National Institutes of Health, Center for Food Allergy, Asthma Research, Northwestern University, drugmakers Novartis, Roche, Genentech, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: U.S

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA finally has counted up all the asteroid samples returned by a spacecraft last fall — and it’s double the rubble return goal. Officials reported Thursday that the Osiris-Rex spacecraft collected 121.6 grams (4.29 ounces) of dust and pebbles from asteroid Bennu. The black, carbon-rich samples — the first ever collected from an asteroid by NASA — are stored at a special curation lab at Houston’s Johnson Space Center. Osiris-Rex returned the samples last September, three years after gathering them from the asteroid. ___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group.

Persons: Rex Organizations: — NASA, NASA, Space, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla, That's

NEW YORK (AP) — Smoking has surpassed injecting as the most common way of taking drugs in U.S. overdose deaths, a new government study suggests. CDC officials decided to study the topic after seeing reports from California suggesting that smoking fentanyl was becoming more common than injecting it. Potent, illicit versions of the painkiller are involved in more U.S. overdose deaths than any other drug. But “both injection and smoking carry a substantial overdose risk,” and it’s not yet clear if a shift toward smoking fentanyl reduces U.S. overdose deaths, said Tanz, a CDC scientist who studies overdoses. It’s complicated to map out exact percentages of deaths that occurred after smoking, injecting, snorting or swallowing drugs, experts say.

Persons: Lauren Tanz, Tanz, it's, Alex Karl, Kral, ‘, snorting, ” Organizations: Disease Control, CDC, RTI, District of Columbia, West, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: California, U.S, San Francisco, Northeast

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Another private U.S. company took a shot at the moon Thursday, launching a month after a rival’s lunar lander missed its mark and came crashing back. NASA, the main sponsor with experiments on board, is hoping for a successful moon landing next week as it seeks to jumpstart the lunar economy ahead of astronaut missions. SpaceX’s Falcon rocket blasted off in the middle of the night from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, dispatching Intuitive Machines’ lunar lander on its way to the moon, 230,000 miles (370,000 kilometers) away. If all goes well, a touchdown attempt would occur Feb. 22, after a day in lunar orbit. Only five countries — the U.S., Russia, China, India and Japan — have scored a lunar landing and no private business has yet done so.

Persons: NASA’s, Japan —, Steve Altemus, Astrobotic, Gene Cernan, Harrison Schmitt, let’s, Trent Martin, Jeff Koons, Embry Organizations: NASA, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Pacific, Columbia, Riddle, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla, U.S, Russia, China, India, Japan, Houston, Antarctica, Israeli, Tokyo

NEW YORK (AP) — For nine years, Alaska health officials have been aware of an unusual virus causing rare, relatively mild illnesses in the Fairbanks area. But a recent case in another part of the state — this one resulting in a man's death — has brought new attention to the so-called Alaskapox virus. But pets, such as dogs and cats, may also carry the virus, health officials say. He was hospitalized in November and died last month, according to a bulletin last week from Alaska public health officials. Alaskapox is a rare illness that in most cases causes a relatively mild symptoms, health officials believe.

Persons: —, mpox — Organizations: Health, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: Alaska, Fairbanks, Fairbanks , Alaska, Kenai

The human brain has trouble pulling names out of stuffed memory banks on cue. But when are those and other verbal stumbles normal, and when might they be a sign of cognitive trouble? Former President Donald Trump, Biden's likely opponent in the November presidential election, has also. And while Trump often brags about passing a screening-style memory test several years ago, Lenze said the best assessment includes rigorous neuropsychological testing. ___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group.

Persons: Joe Biden, Macron, Mitterrand, I’m, ”, Jay Olshansky, Biden, ” Biden, Donald Trump, Biden's, Trump, Nikki Haley, Nancy Pelosi, “, Eric Lenze, Louis, Emmanuel Macron, Francois Mitterrand, ” Mitterrand, ” Lenze, It’s “, Olshansky, everybody's, Lenze Organizations: WASHINGTON, University of Illinois, White, GOP, Washington University, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: Chicago, St

NEW YORK (AP) — The flu virus is hanging on in the U.S., intensifying in some areas of the country after weeks of an apparent national decline. National data suggests this season's peak came around late December, but a second surge is always possible. That's happened in other flu seasons, with the second peak often — but not always — lower than the first, Budd said. CDC data indicates coronavirus-caused hospitalizations haven’t hit the same levels they did at the same point during the last three winters. COVID-19 is putting more people in the hospital than flu, CDC data shows.

Persons: ”, Alicia Budd, “, Budd, hospitalizations haven’t Organizations: for Disease Control, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: U.S

More foods are being recalled in the wake of a deadly outbreak of listeria food poisoning, including snack foods that may be part of Super Bowl Sunday party menus. Photos You Should See View All 21 ImagesThe recalled foods were sold to food service providers, retailers and at deli counters nationwide. The U.S. Department of Agriculture also issued a public health alert for certain Amazon kitchen burritos that contain ingredients made by Rizo Lopez Foods. About 1,600 people are sickened by listeria food poisoning every year, according to the CDC. The CDC said consumers who have the recalled products should throw them away and thoroughly clean the refrigerator, counters and other contact sites.

Persons: Joe's, Rizo Lopez, Tio Francisco, Don Francisco, Rizo, Campesino, Dos, Casa Organizations: Super Bowl, Costco, Rizo Lopez Foods, Inc, U.S . Centers for Disease Control, Prevention, Health, Rizo Bros, Food, U.S . Department of Agriculture, CDC, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: Modesto , California, Rio Grande , Food City, El, San Carlos, Santa Maria, Casa Cardenas

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronauts from Turkey, Italy and Sweden returned to Earth on Friday, ending a private three-week mission to the International Space Station. A former fighter pilot and captain for Turkish Airlines, he became the first person from his country to fly in space. It was Axiom’s third private mission to the space station; the fourth is planned later this year. Photos You Should See View All 21 ImagesBefore leaving the space station, Gezeravci thanked his country for its “bold and determined decision” to send a citizen into space as part of its 100th anniversary as a republic. They enjoyed a few extra days at the space station, waiting for the weather to improve in the splashdown zone.

Persons: Alper, Gezeravci, Walter Villadei, Sweden’s Marcus Wandt, Michael Lopez, Alegria Organizations: International Space, NASA, Houston, SpaceX, Cape Canaveral, Turkish Airlines, Italian Air Force, European Space Agency, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla, Turkey, Italy, Sweden, Florida, Cape

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s newest climate satellite rocketed into orbit Thursday to survey the world’s oceans and atmosphere in never-before-seen detail. SpaceX launched the Pace satellite on its $948 million mission before dawn, with the Falcon rocket heading south over the Atlantic to achieve a rare polar orbit. The satellite will spend at least three years studying the oceans from 420 miles (676 kilometers) up, as well as the atmosphere. Photos You Should See View All 15 ImagesNASA already has more than two dozen Earth-observing satellites and instruments in orbit. NASA is collaborating with India on another advanced Earth-observing satellite due to launch this year.

Persons: It’s, Jeremy Werdell, Pace, “ Pace, Karen St, Germain, Trump, ” Werdell Organizations: SpaceX, Pace, NASA, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla, India

NEW YORK (AP) — A new, higher-dose nasal spray for reversing opioid overdoses did not save more lives than the previous standard dose, but it did cause more vomiting and other side effects, researchers wrote in a study published Thursday. Three troops in eastern New York were given 8-milligram sprays. The study results were based on 354 instances in which troopers administered naloxone sprays from late March 2022 to mid-August 2023. But so too did those treated with the 8-milligram sprays, who got 1.58 doses, or 12.6 milligrams, on average. But other problems were significantly more common in the patients who got the higher-dose sprays.

Persons: —, Michael Dailey, Dailey Organizations: Centers for Disease Control, Albany Medical College, New York State Police, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: New York, Albany

The sun is about to pull another disappearing act across North America, turning day into night during a total solar eclipse. Photos You Should See View All 15 ImagesHere's what to know about April’s extravaganza and how to prepare:WHAT HAPPENS DURING THE TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE? By a cosmic stroke of luck, the moon will make the month’s closest approach to Earth the day before the total solar eclipse. WHEN IS THE NEXT TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE? The next total solar eclipse, in 2026, will grace the northern fringes of Greenland, Iceland and Spain.

Persons: Kelly Korreck, Neil Armstrong's, won’t, NASA’s Organizations: Michigan —, Indianapolis Motor, Armstrong Air, Space Museum, NASA, Space, Pacific, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: North America, Texas, Oklahoma, New England, Canada, Mazatlán, Mexico, Newfoundland, U.S, — Tennessee, Michigan, Dallas, Rock , Arkansas, Indianapolis, Cleveland , Ohio, Buffalo , New York, Montreal, Seattle, Portland , Oregon, Africa, Tiffin , Ohio, Russellville , Arkansas, Wapakoneta , Ohio, Virginia, Greenland, Iceland, Spain, Alaska, Western Canada, Montana, North Dakota, Northern California, Cape Canaveral , Florida, Carbondale , Illinois

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronomers have found the best evidence yet of a vast, young ocean beneath the icy exterior of Saturn’s Death Star lookalike mini moon. Barely 250 miles (400 kilometers) in diameter, the heavily cratered moon lacks the fractures and geysers — typical signs of subsurface activity — of Saturn’s Enceladus and Jupiter’s Europa. Photos You Should See View All 45 ImagesThe ocean is believed to fill half of Mimas’ volume, according to Lainey. But at the seafloor, he said the water temperature could be much warmer. Co-author Nick Cooper of Queen Mary University of London said the existence of a “remarkably young” ocean of liquid water makes Mimas a prime candidate for studying the origin of life.

Persons: Cassini, “ Mimas, ”, Valery Lainey, Alyssa Rose Rhoden, Nick Cooper, William Herschel, Mimas Organizations: —, Paris Observatory, Star, “ Star, Research, Queen Mary University of London, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla

A medical journal has retracted two studies claiming to show the harms of the abortion pill mifepristone, citing conflicts of interest by the authors and flaws in their research. Two of the three studies retracted by medical publisher Sage Perspectives were cited in a pivotal Texas court ruling that has threatened access to the pill. The U.S. Supreme Court will take up the case next month, with a decision expected later this year. Photos You Should See View All 15 ImagesBoth studies cited in the court ruling were published in the journal Health Services Research and Managerial Epidemiology. She said one of the major flaws of the retracted research is that the authors conflate ER visits with serious adverse events and don’t confirm whether patients received treatment.

Persons: —, Matthew Kacsmaryk, Sage, James Studnicki, Ivan Oransky, mifepristone Organizations: Sage, U.S, Supreme, Health Services Research, Charlotte Lozier Institute, District, New York University, University of California, FDA, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: Texas, U.S, San Francisco

Officials in Ecuador have named the likely source of contaminated ground cinnamon used in fruit pouches tied to more than 400 potential cases of lead poisoning in U.S. children, the Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday. Carlos Aguilera, a cinnamon-processing company in Ecuador, supplied the spice added to WanaBana and other applesauce pouches sent to the U.S., according to the Ecuadorian regulatory agency ARCSA. The cinnamon, which was sent to another supplier, Negasmart, was found to be contaminated with high levels of lead and chromium, an FDA analysis showed. The unprocessed cinnamon sticks used in the products were originally imported from Sri Lanka. The sticks were tested and found to have no lead contamination, ARCSA told FDA.

Persons: Carlos Aguilera, ARCSA Organizations: Food and Drug Administration, FDA, U.S . Centers for Disease Control, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: Ecuador, U.S, Ecuadorian, Sri Lanka

A California cheese and dairy company is the source of a decade-long outbreak of listeria food poisoning that killed two people and sickened more than two dozen, federal health officials said Tuesday. They include a person who died in California in 2017 and one who died in Texas in 2020, CDC officials said. The strain of listeria linked to the outbreak was found in a cheese sample from Rizo-Lopez Foods. Federal officials confirmed that queso fresco and cojita made by the company were making people sick. ___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group.

Persons: Tio Francisco, Don Francisco, Rizo, Campesino, Dos, Casa, cojita Organizations: Rizo, Foods of, Centers for Disease Control, Prevention, Rizo Bros, CDC, Foods, Federal, El Super, Cardenas, Northgate, Numero Uno, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: California, Foods of Modesto , California, Texas, Rio Grande , Food City, El, San Carlos, Santa Maria, Casa Cardenas, Cardenas Market, Northgate Gonzalez, Superior, El Rancho, Vallarta, Food City, La

The effect of police violence on Black Americans is tracked in two new studies, with one tying police-involved deaths to sleep disturbances and the other finding a racial gap in injuries involving police use of Tasers. The health effects of police violence on Black people “need to be documented as a critical first step to reduce these harms,” three editors of JAMA Internal Medicine wrote in an editorial published Monday with the studies. For the sleep study, researchers looked at responses from more than 2 million people from 2013 through 2019 in two large government surveys. They focused on people's reports of sleep in the months following police-involved killings of unarmed Black people. ___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group.

Persons: Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, ”, Atheendar, Tasers, “, Kevin Griffith Organizations: Mapping, Justice Department, University of Pennsylvania, Vanderbilt University, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: U.S

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