Novel synthetic drug 100 times stronger than fentanyl responsible for Riverside overdose
Carfentanil is a schedule II synthetic drug with a similar chemical as fentanyl and is used in Wildnil, an anesthetic for elephants, according to the National Library of Medicine. A Riverside man in his forties fatally overdosed on the substance in March but the cause was not officially determined until this month, the Riverside University Health System said in a news release.
Illegally manufactured fentanyl drugs such as carfentanil entered illicit markets in the northeast U.S. as a substitute for white-powder heroin in 2013, the CDC said in a report. Carfentanil, which is 10,000 times more potent than morphine, can be lethal at a fraction of the two milligram range for fentanyl, health officials said.
'Every life lost from opioids is one too many,' Riverside County Public Health Officer Dr. Jennifer Chevinsky said in the release.
Cases of carfentanil overdoses are rare, but on the rise, the release said. U.S. deaths involving carfentanil increased from 29 in the first half of 2023 to 238 during the same period last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Carfentanil is defined as a unique illegally manufactured fentanyl, an opioid produced without the regulations of pharmaceutical-grade fentanyl. That means it can go undetected by some fentanyl test strips, which can lead to an increase in accidental overdoses, health officials added. While overall opioid overdoses have decreased both nationally and in Riverside County, according to the release, the CDC said that the reemergence of carfentanil 'may threaten this progress.'
'Together, we can continue to raise awareness about the risks associated with drug use and work as a community to support safety, reduce harm and care for one another,' Chevinsky said.
The Riverside University Health System recommended that individuals carry naloxone to treat someone overdosing on fentanyl and avoid using carfentanil even in small doses due to the unpredictability and potency of the substance.
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Forbes
2 hours ago
- Forbes
Forget Screen Time, This Is The True Threat To Gen Alpha
CEOs and founders are finally beginning to pay attention to the mobility-gap in our youth. While all eyes are on mobile phones as the greatest threat to our youth's wellbeing, a bigger threat to childhood might be unfolding just beyond the glow of those screens. Across the globe, we're raising a generation that is less physically active, less mobile, and less confident in their bodies than ever before. In the United States, only 20-28% of kids between ages 6 and 17 meet the CDC's recommendation of 60 minutes of daily physical activity. Globally, the situation is even more dire, with over 80% of adolescents not getting enough exercise, according to the World Health Organization. Despite decades of awareness campaigns, public investment, and school initiatives, the needle has barely moved. The consequences ripple out beyond rising obesity or declining cardiovascular health. Lower levels of childhood movement are linked to decreased executive function, poorer mental health, reduced school performance, and higher rates of social isolation. In short, we're quietly undermining an entire generation that will soon find itself struggling not only with their physical well-being, but with the confidence and competence that comes from mastering their own bodies, all in the era of AI that is already making it more difficult for humans to compete. This is why we need to look beyond our concerns over the screen, and examine how we can push and pull our youth to action again. And in this endeavor, companies and their leadership have much more work to do than you might initially think. We Need to Pull Kids Toward Movement, Not Push Them Away From Screens If we want to raise kids who move, we need to build environments that make movement feel rewarding, natural, and most of all, fun. It is not enough to tell children to go outside or scold them for spending too much time online. The same goes for simply taking away their cellphones, even if Jonathan Haidt has made a wonderful case for doing so. Instead, we need to offer meaningful incentives that meet them, and move them, where they are. That's the idea behind WeWard, a free mobile app that turns walking into a rewarding experience. 'When we gamify movement, teenagers suddenly care,' says Yves Benchimol, WeWard's founder and CEO in an interview. 'Across our user base, daily movement jumps by 24 percent once rewards kick in.' Clearly the carrot approach is working, given how one of WeWard's fastest-growing user segments has been among teens and young adults who never saw themselves as 'active.' According to Benchimol, 'The magic doesn't come from collecting points or the gamification alone. The social proof of it all is incredibly important as well. When you're competing with your friends and building healthier habits through community, that's a powerful shift in mindset.' He's particularly passionate about closing mobility equity gaps with methods that pull, instead of push, and he also reminds us of the importance of access to options to move. 'There's a turbo fitness culture these days that promotes rigid diets and expensive workout routines that not everyone can afford,' Benchimol says. 'A healthy lifestyle is something that everyone should have access to in a way that isn't intimidating or extreme. That's why we chose to focus on walking—it's a simple but powerful movement that's incredibly overlooked. Educating the youth on these benefits will be key to wellness reform' What Benchimol is highlighting ties to a growing trend where treating physical activity not as a personal virtue, but as a public good that needs private solutions and education to play a larger role. If we want more movement, we need to design for it on all sides of the economy. That includes smart incentives, but also the resources and tools to make movement easy. Make Mobility Accessible, And The Rest Takes Care of Itself Kids find the joy in mobility early, if only we allow it. For many kids, a love of motion starts the moment they ride their first bike. But fewer and fewer are reaching that milestone, in large part given that we simply don't have access to spaces, or equipment to move the way previous generations did. Perhaps the most striking statistic comes from something as simple as riding a bike. According to Strider Bikes founder Ryan McFarland during our interview, 'Only about a quarter of kids in the U.S. can ride a bike by the time they're six. We used to take it for granted. Now, it's the exception.' Seeing these statistics play out firsthand is part of the reason McFarland created the Strider balance bike to begin with. After watching his own son struggle on traditional learn-to-ride toys that were too cumbersome and complicated, he crafted his own pedal-less starter bike designed to teach balance and confidence before introducing propulsion. 'Balance first, propulsion later. The moment a toddler glides, you've banked a lifetime of confidence,' McFarland says. Recognizing the challenge accessibility poses, McFarland has pushed the company to do more than simply build bikes. The Strider Education Foundation helped launch and now supports All Kids Bike, a nonprofit initiative that puts balance bikes directly into public school kindergarten PE classes. Their turnkey program includes bikes, helmets, curriculum, and teacher training, all funded by donors. 'With over 1,600 active programs in all 50 states, we're reaching 160,000 five-year-olds every year,' says Lisa Weyer, executive director of All Kids Bike. 'And because the equipment lasts up to a decade, we are teaching over 1.6 million kids how to ride.' The appeal to schools is clear: the program fits seamlessly into existing curriculum, doesn't require families to buy their own equipment, and provides measurable outcomes. 'We treat bikes the way we treat books or microscopes,' Weyer explains. 'Bikes shouldn't feel like luxury items. They're essential learning tools and the pathway to a lifetime of mobility.' Both Weyer and McFarland see mobility as a justice issue. 'You don't get to build confidence if you never get the chance to try,' says McFarland. 'That's why we focus on public schools, especially in communities where bikes might be out of reach.' When we break down the barriers of accessibility by removing cost barriers, creating access, and integrating movement into daily routines, kids naturally take to it in ways that show the issue is not due to a lack of interest in movement. Quite the contrary. 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Politico
3 hours ago
- Politico
Top FDA vaccine regulator abruptly exits post
With help from Lauren Gardner Driving the Day A SURPRISE VACANCY — Dr. Vinay Prasad, the FDA's chief vaccine regulator, departed unexpectedly from his position on Tuesday, POLITICO's David Lim reports. His departure follows recent accusations from conservative activist Laura Loomer that he was a progressive and not aligned with President Donald Trump's agenda. It also comes amid a dispute between the FDA and biopharmaceutical company Sarepta Therapeutics centering around Elevidys, a Duchenne muscular dystrophy treatment that Prasad had publicly criticized before his government service. 'Dr. Prasad did not want to be a distraction to the great work of the FDA in the Trump administration and has decided to return to California and spend more time with his family,' HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in a statement. 'We thank him for his service and the many important reforms he was able to achieve in his time at FDA.' While at the agency, Prasad served as FDA Commissioner Marty Makary's right-hand, playing a prominent role in developing the Trump administration's approach to Covid-19 vaccine policy. He was the director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research and also worked as the FDA's chief medical and scientific officer. Prasad could not be reached for comment Tuesday night. Endpoints News and STAT previously reported the news of Prasad's departure. Prasad, a frequent guest on Makary's FDA podcast, was scheduled to participate in another round of meetings with pharmaceutical and biotech chief executives in New York, Raleigh and Atlanta in the coming weeks with Makary and top drug regulator George Tidmarsh. WELCOME TO WEDNESDAY PULSE. At least 85 people got sick last year after a pizza restaurant mistakenly used THC-infused oil to prepare dough, according to a recent CDC report. Send your tips, scoops and feedback to khooper@ and sgardner@ and follow along @kelhoops and @sophie_gardnerj. At the Agencies DIRECTING A CHANGING CDC — The Senate voted to confirm Susan Monarez as the next CDC director Tuesday, marking an end to the agency's four-month stint without a director or acting head and setting her up to helm an agency that's undergoing a rapid transformation. Over the past several months, the Trump administration has rapidly changed the CDC, terminating thousands of its employees and upending some of its key functions, like the way the agency recommends vaccines. Here are the biggest challenges Monarez will have to navigate over the coming months. — The impact of the reduction in force: In April, around 2,400 CDC employees were told they would be terminated, including scientists, communications officials and entire offices — though a few hundred of those employees have since been rehired. The administration is refocusing the CDC on infectious disease as it sheds much of its personnel working on chronic disease, occupational safety and health equity. The agency also absorbed some other agencies' work, including the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response. Implementing those changes — many of which are still up in the air — will now fall to Monarez. — Vaccine choices: In June, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. overhauled the CDC's vaccine advisory panel, which votes on the immunizations that should be included in the agency's childhood and adult vaccine schedules. Kennedy fired the panel's 17 members and replaced them with eight new picks, with one withdrawing soon after their appointment. Several of Kennedy's choices have histories in the anti-vaccine movement, and the new panel has indicated it plans to revisit the childhood vaccine schedule. Monarez will likely have to approve any changes made by the committee before they become official policy. It's customary for the CDC director to approve such changes, but Kennedy himself could continue to do so. At her confirmation hearing in June, Monarez said she hasn't seen a causal link between vaccines and autism, though she dodged questions about whether she disagrees with any of Kennedy's moves. — Communication challenges: Over her tenure, Monarez will need to find a way to effectively communicate with various sectors of the public who say they have lost trust in the CDC. That could prove especially challenging, as public health experts question Kennedy's influence over the agency and post-pandemic distrust lingers. And some of the agency's key tools for communicating information to the public have also been impacted over the past few months — including the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the agency's flagship journal. An analysis of the journal's recent publications by MedPage Today found that MMWR has published fewer articles over the past three months compared with the output over the same period in past years. Eye on Insurers A NEW ALZHEIMER'S APPROACH — Nonprofit health insurer EmblemHealth launched a first-of-its-kind lifestyle medicine program Tuesday for patients with early-stage Alzheimer's disease, Kelly reports. The New York-based insurer announced it would cover the program, designed by preventive medicine researcher Dr. Dean Ornish and aimed at enhancing brain health and slowing disease progression through lifestyle modifications. Eligible enrollees who have mild cognitive impairment or early-stage dementia associated with Alzheimer's disease can enroll in the program for free. Why it matters: The new initiative aligns with the Make America Healthy Again agenda that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has spearheaded, focusing on targeting the nation's chronic disease crisis through lifestyle habits like healthy eating and regular exercise. It also comes as promising new Alzheimer's drugs have come to the market over the past few years, but some insurers have been reluctant to cover the treatments, given their steep price tag. Background: The program offers biweekly online or in-person classes to provide patients with clinical, emotional and food support, according to a news release from EmblemHealth, which serves more than 2 million people in the New York tristate area and is one of the nation's largest not-for-profit insurers. The services offered include access to 'nutritious, whole food, plant-based meals and snacks' and guidance on preparing the foods at home, getting daily exercise and mitigating stress. On Tuesday, Ornish announced results of a study he conducted on the program, where 26 people participated for 40 weeks and showed 46 percent improvement in 3 in 4 standardized tests — including measures of memory, judgment, problem-solving and in-home functionality. About 38 percent of the participants showed no decline, and 83 percent overall improved or maintained cognition. 'Partnering with a leading insurer such as EmblemHealth provides access to invaluable resources,' said Ornish, founder and president of the nonprofit Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California, in a news release. 'Bringing this program to seniors through a leading physician group and a mature community support system makes it possible to achieve groundbreaking results.' In the courts ALIGNING BEHIND PLANNED PARENTHOOD — Nearly two dozen Democratic-led states filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging the GOP megabill's provision blocking Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood affiliates, arguing that lawmakers are trying to force states to violate constitutional protections for free speech, Lauren reports. The suit, filed in federal district court in Massachusetts and led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, echoes the constitutional arguments Planned Parenthood made in its own challenge to the law, for which a federal judge granted an injunction Monday. The states say the statute — and Congress' and the Trump administration's records of disparaging the nonprofit's abortion-rights advocacy — violates the First Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment's equal-protection guarantees against government retaliation. The states also argue the provision violates the Constitution's prohibition of bills of attainder, a constitutional concept that blocks legislators from singling out entities for punishment without a trial. 'The President and Congress are implementing a cruel, backdoor abortion ban through this provision, putting their political agendas over people's lives,' Bonta said in a statement. State-specific arguments: The Democratic states' lawyers contend that lawmakers 'conscripted' states into unconstitutionally targeting Planned Parenthood clinics. The law also saddles states with determining which entities with operations across state lines would have to be excluded from Medicaid payments, they said. Why now? Judge Indira Talwani, an Obama appointee to the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, granted Planned Parenthood's motion for a preliminary injunction Monday, putting the defunding provision on hold as the case moves through the courts. The states acknowledged that development in their Tuesday statement but said they 'remain committed to ensuring full relief.' Some Planned Parenthood clinics lost their Medicaid funding last week after a temporary restraining order expired on July 21, the same day Talwani granted a partial injunction that applied only to the few affiliates that wouldn't be subjected to the defunding provision because they don't provide abortions. At the White House PATIENT DATA PLEDGES — The White House and CMS are expected to announce today that roughly 60 entities in the health care sector will pledge to make patient data more accessible and speed its delivery among patients, clinicians and payers, according to an HHS employee granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive plans, POLITICO's Ruth Reader reports. The agency hopes the commitments will stoke companies to make it easier for patients to import their data into an app of their choice, where they can manage their day-to-day health and easily share their history with doctors. Pledges, not rules: The Trump administration has sought such commitments to compel the industry to make changes without having to engage in a lengthy rulemaking or guidance process. But the federal government has tried similar tactics in the past. In 2016, the then-secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Sylvia Burwell, under President Barack Obama announced at a health IT conference that dozens of health industry organizations would commit to easing the flow of health information to patients. Nearly 10 years later, those voluntary commitments haven't materialized into better data access. Still, the Trump administration thinks it can appeal to the private sector more effectively. Names in the News Andi Lipstein Fristedt is now executive vice president, chief strategy and policy officer at the Parkinson's Foundation. She previously was deputy director and chief strategy officer at the CDC. WHAT WE'RE READING STAT's Chelsea Cirruzzo reports that HHS is vetting potential new members for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, the federal advisory panel that recommends which preventive services insurers must cover.
USA Today
6 hours ago
- USA Today
Do you know the signs of a tick bite? What to look for
This year's tick season has been extremely active, leading to a surge in ER visits because of tick bites, particularly in the Northeast. This year's figures are the highest since 2019, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of the nearly 900 species of ticks in the world, the United States is home to nearly 50 species, according to the National Institutes of Health. Although only a few kinds of ticks can transmit disease to people, those species are growing in numbers and reach. Tiny yet dangerous ticks can spread a number of diseases to humans and animals. But don't panic if you discover a tick on you or a family member. Just because a tick lands on you or bites you doesn't guarantee that you will contract Lyme disease or any of the other diseases they spread. Here are some tips to help you identify and remove a tick: How to recognize a tick Ticks use your body heat, breath, movement and smell to find you. They also employ a variety of methods to locate their victims. Some prefer to wait in leaf litter or dead logs, and others like to scale tall grass or other vegetation, according to the Mayo Clinic. More: Tick bites sending more people to ER than years past, CDC data shows Unable to view our graphics? Click here to see them. Where to look for ticks If you are returning indoors after being outside, it's a good idea to check your clothes and body for ticks. Ticks can be as small as a poppy seed. For a disease to be transmitted, a tick must stay connected to its host for 24 to 36 hours. By removing the tick promptly, you can reduce the chance of becoming infected. Here are some tips on how to deal with a tick: What do tick bites look like? Found a tick? Don't panic Here's the proper way to remove a tick: What happens if you don't remove a tick? According to the CDC, specific tick species can spread diseases like Lyme disease, southern-tick associated rash sickness (STARI) and Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) in certain regions of the nation. Not all ticks carry infections, but waiting too long to remove one from your skin can raise the risk of transmission. CONTRIBUTING Mary Walrath-Holdridge/USA TODAY
