TV News LIES

A federal judge officially approved drug maker Purdue Pharma’s latest deal to settle thousands of lawsuits over the toll of the opioid epidemic and pay victims, according to multiple media reports.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane on Tuesday, Nov. 18 approved OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma’s plan to settle thousands of lawsuits over the harms of the opioids, the AP reported. The judge's decision orders members of the Sackler family, who own the drug-making company, "to contribute up to $7 billion over 15 years."

The move comes on the heels of Reuters reporting last week that the New York-based judge said he would approve a restructuring plan for the drug maker that includes a $7.4 billion settlement.

The deal aims to resolve claims Purdue Pharma fueled the United States opioid epidemic by selling addictive pain meds linked to hundreds of thousands of deaths over the past two decades.

Some of the money will be given to people who had OxyContin prescriptions, as well as their survivors, the outlets reported.

More...

This fall, multiple states including Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee and Wisconsin have reported outbreaks of hand, foot and mouth disease, a contagious virus that commonly infects children under 5 but can also cause symptoms in older kids and adults, too.

“This year, [cases seem] to be out of control,” said Dr. Allison Agwu, a professor of adult and pediatric infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. For example, in Agwu’s state of Maryland, cases are at “four to five times what they saw this time last year,” she said.

Dr. Matthew Thomas, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at WVU Medicine Golisano Children’s in West Virginia, said spikes typically happen in cycles. “Some years you’ll see a lot of cases, like we’re seeing this year, and then it kind of fades away, where you don’t hear about it for a while,” Thomas said.

With cases higher than normal, it’s important to know the signs of the virus and what to do if you (or your kids) get sick. Here’s what to know:

More...

Heights University Hospital, which has served Jersey City for over 150 years, closed its doors on Saturday after failing to secure millions in critically needed state funds to keep it operational and pay employees, according to its parent company.

Hudson Regional Health, which owns the hospital, announced via its social media platforms on Saturday that only the hospital’s emergency room would remain open. Hudson Regional Health itself took control of the hospital and two others in Bayonne and Hoboken from Hudson County’s struggling CarePoint Health System in April.

“It was difficult to conceive of an employer that could be more harmful to its employees and its community than CarePoint has been in Hudson County,” read a statement by Health Professionals and Allied Employees, the union representing the hospital's staff. “But Hudson Regional Health has surpassed CarePoint as the worst employer in Hudson County.”

The union’s statement also said its members have been left without future employment and a paycheck for two weeks of work.

More...

A single infusion of an experimental gene-editing drug appears safe and effective for cutting cholesterol, possibly for life, according to a small early study released Saturday.

The study, which involved 15 volunteers, found one infusion of a drug that uses the CRISPR gene-editing technique could safely reduce cholesterol, as well as levels of harmful triglycerides, by about half.

"Rather than a lifetime worth of medicine, we have the potential to give people a cure," said Dr. Luke Laffin, a preventative cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic who helped conduct the study. "It's very exciting."

The results of the study were presented Saturday at the American Heart Association's annual meeting and published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

More...

Cancer continues to be one of the world's top causes of death, due in part to delayed discovery of the disease. But according to a recently released study, a simple blood test may be able to identify a variety of cancers in their early stages.

In addition to earlier detection, the study from GRAIL, a biotechnology company, showed that its multi-cancer early detection (MCED) testing method found cancers in organs that don't have routine screening tests. The test, known as Galleri, picked up cancer signals in 216 people, and 133 of them were found to actually have cancer. The study also found that the test correctly predicted the cancer's origin 92% of the time.

Shifting cancer screening options

Because of the lack of screening for many of the most serious cancers, they tend to be found after it is too late. But when tumors are found early on, they are more treatable and possibly curable.

There are currently established screening methods for various cancers, including mammograms, pap tests, colonoscopies, and tests for the prostate and lungs.

The FDA has not yet approved the Galleri MCED testing method; more research is currently ongoing.

More...

A deadly listeria outbreak connected to prepared pasta meals sold at grocery chains nationwide is worsening, federal health officials say.

As of late October, the outbreak has killed six people and sickened 27, all but two of whom were hospitalized, according to last week's update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). One of those affected was a pregnant mother, resulting in a fetal loss.

Cases have been reported in 18 states: California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington.

"Since the last CDC case count update on September 25, 2025, a total of 7 new illnesses from 3 states have been reported, with 2 additional deaths reported," the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said.

That list has grown in recent months. The outbreak started in June, when listeria concerns prompted recalls of several brands of ready-to-eat chicken fettuccine Alfredo mealsmade by FreshRealm Inc. and sold under the Home Chef brand at Kroger and the Marketside brand at Walmart.

More...