MMA champ facing lung transplant after sudden illness
His wife, Amy Askren, shared on Facebook that he is currently on a ventilator and ECMO for lung support.
She said she is 'praying for a miracle with his current lungs', but an evaluation process for a lung transplant has begun.
Askren, 40, was an Olympic wrestler and MMA champion who retired from combat sports in 2021.
His wife said he fell ill very suddenly, stating he was previously very healthy.
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The Guardian
25 minutes ago
- The Guardian
US medical groups fill gap with own vaccine guides amid ‘information crisis'
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is adopting a recommendation from independent advisers to drop thimerosal, a preservative found in about 4% of flu vaccines, despite evidence that it poses no risks and helps prevent bacterial and fungal infections. But Robert F Kennedy Jr, the HHS secretary, has not adopted two other votes from the advisory meeting: recommending annual flu vaccines for everyone over the age of six months and RSV shots for infants. As science becomes increasingly politicized and federal officials change policies on vaccination, sometimes reportedly over the advice of their own scientists, independent scientific groups are now stepping into the gap for evidence-based recommendations. Medical groups now plan to issue vaccine recommendations in the wake of changes to routine vaccine guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Recommendations like these may help the public – and health insurance companies – understand which shots should be part of the routine schedule, and why. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) announced this month that it will release new guidance for Covid, flu and RSV vaccination during pregnancy. The guidance will appear at the end of the summer, before the winter respiratory season. Five other scientific groups – the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American College of Physicians – also plan to release vaccine guidance. The news comes amid growing changes to how vaccines are recommended by US officials. Kennedy and other officials have also announced new restrictions on Covid vaccines, and Kennedy framed vaccination with the measles, mumps, and rubella shot as a 'personal' choice during the worst US measles outbreak in three decades. A new endeavor, the Vaccine Integrity Project, is now conducting a wide-ranging review of scientific studies on vaccines, due to wrap up in the next two to three weeks. The volunteer-driven vaccine project is analyzing 16,400 publications on flu, Covid and RSV vaccines. The scientific groups will then draw upon that review to issue guidance for the populations they serve, including children, high-risk people, pregnant people and healthy adults. 'We're not making recommendations ourselves. We're just providing them with the information,' said Michael Osterholm, the epidemiologist heading the project at the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy (Cidrap). It is an effort to take up the work done by the CDC's independent advisory group, the advisory committee on immunization practices (ACIP), since 1964. 'For the past five-plus decades, we have looked at the CDC as the authoritative source for guidance and information related to vaccines,' said Scott Rivkees, associate dean for education in the Brown University School of Public Health and former surgeon general of Florida. Now, 'the medical community very much disagrees with' the current approach from health agencies, he said, and it is quickly pivoting from relying on CDC recommendations to collaborating on their own. Americans are facing an 'information crisis' as official guidance falters, Osterholm said. 'The CDC science has been corrupted'. Changing official health guidance 'results in total confusion', Rivkees said. 'Who do you listen to? It really puts parents and families in an incredibly difficult situation.' Parents 'have more questions now than before. We see more vaccine hesitancy than before. We see more vaccine refusal than before,' Rivkees continued. 'These changes that are happening now are the result of politics, not related to science.' Organizations like the Vaccine Integrity Project and its collaboration with medical groups will be vital to 'preserve what we know works' when it comes to protecting people from infectious diseases and other health issues, said Rivkees. The scientific groups already have expertise – and trust – in these areas, he said. Working together will help them make evidence-based, trustworthy recommendations. Kennedy announced in May that the CDC would no longer recommend Covid vaccines during pregnancy, despite strong and consistent evidence that the vaccines are safe in pregnancy and that pregnancy is a major risk factor for severe illness and death from Covid. 'Immunization is especially important during pregnancy, when the risks of severe outcomes are heightened – and when vaccines can provide critical protection to the infant after birth,' Sandra E Brooks, CEO of ACOG, said in a statement. The CDC also changed the pediatric Covid recommendation from 'should' to 'may' and FDA officials put greater restrictions on who may receive Covid boosters. Yet Covid remains a major threat. 'This year, the number of hospitalizations, serious illnesses and deaths in kids from Covid exceeded that of influenza, and this was one of the worst influenza years in a decade,' Osterholm said. Flu and RSV also pose major risks, and without recommendations from the CDC for annual boosters, those vaccines and preventives could face an uncertain future. The respiratory vaccine guidance is only the beginning, Osterholm said. 'This was just the first effort, because it was the most immediate need right now.' After this, the organization will focus on data for other routine vaccinations. 'The thought that we now have to care for more children with measles, more children with whooping cough than before, is really very unfortunate,' Rivkees said. 'I'm very afraid that this country is moving to a situation where some elements within our nation are going to accept children dying of measles, children dying of whooping cough, teenagers dying of meningitis, not getting vaccinated as the new normal. And the thought that we are going to now be able to think that this is acceptable is frankly terrifying.' Outside guidance will help parents and providers navigate the evidence on vaccines, Rivkees said – and it may help insurers decide which vaccines to cover. Under the Affordable Care Act, insurers are required to cover vaccines recommended by ACIP. 'As ACIP makes changes to recommendations, then the question comes, are these vaccines going to continue to be covered or not? Whereas before insurance may pay for certain vaccines, maybe they won't in the future, which means families will have to pay out of pocket,' Rivkees said. Decreases in vaccination could mean manufacturers make fewer vaccines or pull out of the market entirely. 'The other thing that we're also very worried about is what's going to happen to the vaccine supply,' Rivkees said. Vaccines help insurers save money by preventing illness, Osterholm said. 'But they've got to have a basis for making the decision that 'we will support this,' and that's what we're trying to provide.' The outside recommendations are meant as a stopgap measure, Osterholm says. 'We need our old ACIP back. We need to have the kind of scientific expertise, based on the expertise in the community, to ensure the vaccine enterprise is healthy and exists,' Osterholm said. 'We're not, as the Vaccine Integrity Project, hoping that we exist for very long. We'd love to see us go away because of the return of ACIP and CDC leadership,' he added. But, he said, 'we know that that's not going to happen, at least for the next few years'.
Reuters
25 minutes ago
- Reuters
Humana raises annual profit forecast as medical costs stabilize
July 30 (Reuters) - Humana (HUM.N), opens new tab raised its annual profit forecast after beating quarterly estimates on Wednesday, as the U.S. health insurer succeeded in keeping its medical costs in check, in contrast to several of its rivals who recently slashed their expectations. The company said its strong quarterly performance was also driven by better-than-expected membership in individual Medicare Advantage plans and strength in its primary care segment CenterWell. Its shares rose nearly 7% in premarket trading. "Following several reductions to guidance, we think this increase will be received positively, as the company's 2025 repricing actions appear to be having their intended effect," said J.P. Morgan analyst Lisa Gill. Larger competitor UnitedHealth (UNH.N), opens new tab flagged underestimation of medical costs on Tuesday, and also provided a full-year profit forecast that fell short of analysts' already diminished estimates. Humana reported a quarterly medical cost ratio - the percentage of premiums spent on medical care - of 89.7%, up from 88.9% a year earlier, but in line with analysts' estimates of 89.71%. The industry has been battling with stubbornly high costs for the last two years due to increased use of healthcare services across government-backed plans. Humana is the top provider of Medicare Advantage plans under which the U.S. government pays private insurers a set rate to manage healthcare for people aged 65 and older, and those with disabilities. CEO Jim Rechtin said the company was confident in the growth outlook for Medicare Advantage and value-based care. "We feel good about our solid performance in the first half of the year." The health insurer said it remained optimistic that its pricing of the Medicare Advantage plans for 2025 will drive margin improvement. It also expects membership decline in the plans to be lower than previously anticipated. Humana projected full-year profit to be about $17 per share, compared with its previous estimate of about $16.25. Analysts on average were expecting a profit of $16.38 per share, as per LSEG data. For the second quarter, the company earned a profit of $6.27 per share, topping estimates of $5.92.
Reuters
25 minutes ago
- Reuters
Patients still benefit from Eisai and Biogen Alzheimer's drug after four years, study finds
July 30 (Reuters) - Eisai (4523.T), opens new tab and Biogen's (BIIB.O), opens new tab Alzheimer's drug Leqembi continued to slow progress of the disease with no new safety issues four years into treatment, according to new data presented at a medical meeting on Wednesday. An injectable version of the drug, currently given by intravenous infusion, is under U.S. regulatory review. The best results were seen in people who started treatment while in the earliest stages of the brain-wasting disease. In a pivotal trial of patients with early-stage Alzheimer's, Leqembi was shown to slow cognitive decline by 27% compared to a placebo after 18 months - data that supported the drug's U.S. approval in 2023. The companies continued to follow about 95% of patients enrolled in that trial. The latest results show that after four years, Leqembi slowed cognitive decline by 34% compared to what would be expected in similar patients who did not receive treatment. Leqembi targets protofibrils - toxic building blocks that eventually form clumps in the brain known as amyloid plaques, a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. There were no new safety findings over the four-year period. Brain swelling and bleeding associated with drugs that work by removing amyloid plaque from the brain largely occurred within the first six months of treatment, according to data presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Toronto. More than 50% of patients who started treatment in the earlier stages of Alzheimer's continued to show improvement in clinical scores after four years on Leqembi. Eisai is conducting a separate study of Leqembi in pre-symptomatic Alzheimer's patients that is due to conclude in late 2027. Eli Lilly (LLY.N), opens new tab is also studying its Alzheimer's drug Kisunla in people who have detectable disease pathology, but show no noticeable cognitive decline. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, where recent job cuts have raised questions about review times, is slated to decide by August 31 whether to approve an injectable version of Leqembi that could be given to patients at home or at medical facilities. Lynn Kramer, Eisai's chief clinical officer, said interactions with the FDA "have been right on schedule. They have been communicating with us all the time in an expected manner." He said the new formulation "will be very helpful to starting new patients" on the drug, which is continuing to see "escalating usage." Eisai will report its latest quarterly results next week, while Biogen will report results on Thursday.
