Tag: Washington

DEVELOPING: Outbreaks of a drug-resistant superbug fungus reported in Texas and Washington

Alexandra Larkin – July 23, 2021

Outbreaks of a drug-resistant “superbug” fungus spread among patients in hospitals and long-term care facilities in Texas and Washington, D.C., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday. The fungus, Candida auris, preys on people with weakened immune systems. The CDC said evidence suggests these cases involved person-to-person transmission, which would be a first for the U.S.

The clusters in the two cities appear to be unrelated to each other, the report said. The 30-day mortality in both outbreaks combined was 30%, although other health conditions may also have played a role.

Candida auris, which was first seen in the U.S. in 2013, is “resistant to multiple anti-fungal drugs that we have, and it’s also resistant to all the things that we use to eradicate bacteria and fungal strains in the hospital,” Dr. Neeta Ogden, an internal medicine specialist, told CBS News in 2019 after health officials issued a warning about the emerging threat.

Of 101 cases of the fungus identified in Washington, D.C., from January to April 2021, three were isolated as being resistant to all three major classes of anti-fungal medications. Those cases occurred at a long-term care facility for severely ill patients.

There were 22 cases identified in Texas during the same period, with two being resistant to all three anti-fungal medications, and five resistant to two of the medications. Those seven cases were found in patients at two acute care hospitals, one long-term and one short-term; two of the patients were treated at both hospitals. The CDC did not identify the facilities, but CBS DFW reports they were both in the Dallas area.

“This is really the first time we’ve started seeing clustering of resistance” in which patients seemed to be getting the infections from other patients, said the CDC’s Dr. Meghan Lyman, an author of the report.

https://endtimeheadlines.org

Parents File Lawsuit against Washington D.C. over Law Allowing Officials to Vaccinate Children without Parental Consent

Amanda Casanova – July 15, 2021

Parents in Washington, D.C., are suing the District over a new law that allows officials to vaccinate children in public schools without parental consent.

According to The Christian Post, the parents say they have a religious objection to the “Minor Consent to Vaccinations Act of 2020,” which was passed into law in November and went into effect in March.

The law allows children ages 11 and older to decide to receive a vaccination if they are deemed “capable of meeting the informed consent standard” and “able to comprehend … significant risks ordinarily inherent in the medical care.”

The law also allows insurance providers to seek reimbursement for the vaccination without parental consent, and insurance companies do not have to provide an “Explanation of Benefits,” which would give the vaccination details.

Four parents filed suit with support from the Children’s Health Defense and the Parental Rights Foundation.

“The D.C. Act is reckless, unconstitutional, and needlessly endangers children’s lives by stripping away parental protection and the protection of the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986,” said Mary Holland, president and general counsel of the Children’s Health Defense, in a statement.

“The Minor Consent Act subverts the right and duty of parents to make informed decisions about whether their children should receive vaccinations, by both depriving them of the opportunity to make those decisions and by concealing from parents that their children have been asked to consent to vaccinations or may have indeed been vaccinated.”

District of Columbia Public Schools are not requiring the COVID-19 vaccination to enroll, but the district could vaccinate eligible students for COVID-19 under the new law.

In May, Lewis Ferebee, chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools, sent an email to parents saying it was their “responsibility” to get vaccinated if they wanted to see their children back in school classrooms.

https://www.christianheadlines.com

‘Assisted suicide an NHS moneysaver’, ‘disturbing’ report says

Christian Insitute – March 18, 2020

Academics in Scotland have been criticised for suggesting that legalising assisted suicide would financially benefit the NHS.

Ethicist Dr David Shaw and healthcare economist Professor Alec Morton say it would be “irresponsible not to consider” the economic costs of denying assisted suicide.

Dr Gordon Macdonald, Chief Executive of Care Not Killing, called the report “highly disturbing”.

Dr Macdonald said: “Very quickly the argument moves from that of personal autonomy to doctors and nurses making value judgments about the quality of other people’s lives while seeking to save money and tackle so-called ‘bed blocking’ in health services.”

He cited the situation in the US states of Oregon and Washington, where “a majority of those ending their lives cite fear of being a burden on their families and finances.

“We have also seen cancer patients denied life-saving and life-extending treatments due to their cost but offered the drugs to end their lives”.

The study claimed legalization would be positive, as helping some patients to kill themselves would free up resources for other patients.

The researchers also said the controversial practice should be legalized because where patients die naturally, their organs deteriorate and are less likely to be viable for transplant.

In the Netherlands and Belgium it is already possible for organs to be donated following an assisted suicide.

https://www.christian.org.uk