The Health News USA February 24 2018

• A federal advisory panel on Wednesday recommended a new vaccine against hepatitis B. The vaccine, called Heplisav-B, was licensed for use in the U.S. in November and is the first new hepatitis B vaccine in 25 years. Hepatitis B vaccines have been in childhood shots for decades. But vaccination also is recommended for adults at high risk of infection, including people who inject drugs, health care workers and jail inmates.
• A one-time pharmacy worker who pleaded guilty to taking opioid painkillers that were meant for terminally ill patients is going to prison. U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor sentenced thirty-year-old Johnathan William Click to five years in prison Wednesday. Click was accused of diluting the opioid medication intended for the IV bags and taking the painkillers to feed his own addiction.
• Wendy Williams is taking a break to tend to her health. During Wednesday’s episode of “The Wendy Williams Show,” the popular daytime talk-show host revealed she’s been diagnosed with Graves’ disease, an immune system disorder that results in the overproduction of thyroid hormones, or hyperthyroidism. The disease can also cause heart palpitations, tremors, anxiety, irritability and shakiness, according to the Mayo Clinic.
  

News on Health Professional Radio. Today is the 24th of February 2018. Read by Tabetha Moreto.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/us-panel-recommends-adult-vaccine-hepatitis-53247220

A federal advisory panel on Wednesday recommended a new vaccine against hepatitis B.
The vaccine, called Heplisav-B, was licensed for use in the U.S. in November and is the first new hepatitis B vaccine in twenty five years.

Hepatitis B vaccines have been in childhood shots for decades. But vaccination also is recommended for adults at high risk of infection, including people who inject drugs, health care workers and jail inmates.

The new vaccine made by Dynavax Technologies Corporation B is for adults and uses an additive that boosts the body’s immune response. It is given in two shots over a month. Experts hope that will improve vaccination rates, because other vaccines are given in a harder-to-complete regimen of three doses over six months. Before it was licensed in November, a study found an unexpected number of heart attacks in people who got the vaccine. Dynavax is doing follow-up studies on possible side effects.
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The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices endorsed the vaccine during a meeting in Atlanta. The government usually adopts its recommendations.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/feb/21/feds-pharmacy-worker-took-opioids-meant-for-termin/

A one-time pharmacy worker who pleaded guilty to taking opioid painkillers that were meant for terminally ill patients is going to prison. U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor sentenced thirty-year-old Johnathan William Click to five years in prison Wednesday.

A statement from prosecutors says Click worked at ContinuumRx of Central Alabama, a Birmingham-based pharmacy that prepared bags of intravenous painkillers meant for dying patients in debilitating pain. The company mainly supplied five hospice organizations, and Click was accused of diluting the opioid medication intended for the intravenous therapy bags and taking the painkillers to feed his own addiction.

He was the company’s lead technician at the time. Court documents say Click hid what he was doing from the company and somehow passed multiple rounds of drug-screening tests.

https://www.today.com/health/wendy-williams-taking-break-following-graves-disease-diagnosis-t123657

Wendy Williams is taking a break to tend to her health. During Wednesday’s episode of “The Wendy Williams Show,” the popular daytime talk-show host revealed she’s been diagnosed with Graves’ disease, an immune system disorder that results in the overproduction of thyroid hormones, or hyperthyroidism.

Williams explained that “graves’ disease squeezes the muscles behind the eyeballs and it’s caused her eyeballs to twitch, something viewers noticed before she did.

The disease can also cause heart palpitations, tremors, anxiety, irritability and shakiness, according to the Mayo Clinic. Other symptoms include weight loss, fatigue, heat sensitivity and menstrual cycle changes. Williams said she initially believed her symptoms were caused by menopause but was properly diagnosed Tuesday during an appointment with her endocrinologist. The workaholic host was originally scheduled to see the doctor in December, but canceled to attend a business meeting.
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Wendy has been openly dealing with her Graves’ Disease for many years in addition to hyperthyroidism. Recently, Wendy’s doctor prescribed a necessary three weeks of rest to get her levels and medication in sync. The show will be in repeats during this unplanned hiatus. A live show was produced  so that Wendy could speak directly to her fans and explain her condition.”
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The announcement comes just a week after the host canceled several shows because she was sick with flu-like symptoms, which she discussed in a video, which found her at home sipping juice in her bathrobe.