The Health News US May 1 2018
- According to data obtained by USA TODAY, the US Army issued waivers over 13 months to more than 1,000 recruits who had been diagnosed and treated for mood disorders and 95 more for self-mutilation. The acceptance of new soldiers with a history of serious behavioral health issues, some of which can be lifelong challenges, came as the Army struggled to meet its recruiting goals.
- According to health officials, a nasty strain of bacteria that can cause severe illness is what’s driving a food poisoning outbreak linked to romaine lettuce. The government now has reports of 98 people who got sick in twenty two states. Forty-six people have been hospitalized, including 10 with kidney failure, which is an unusually high number of hospitalizations.
- Michigan state election officials moved last Thursday to let voters decide in November whether to legalize the possession and sale of recreational marijuana. The Michigan Board of State Canvassers unanimously voted four to zero in favor of certifying signatures submitted by marijuana legalization advocates who hoped to secure a spot on the Nov. 6 ballot, effectively guaranteeing their placement unless the Legislature rejects the measure or offers a competing proposal in the next 6 months.
According to data obtained by USA TODAY, the US Army issued waivers over thirteen months to more than one thousand recruits who had been diagnosed and treated for mood disorders and ninety five more for self-mutilation. The acceptance of new soldiers with a history of serious behavioral health issues, some of which can be lifelong challenges, came as the Army struggled to meet its recruiting goals. The time period ran from October one, two thousand sixteen, through October thirty one, two thousand seventeen. Recently Army Secretary Mark Esper indicated that the Army issues waivers only for mental health issues that have been resolved or upon further review were misdiagnosed. There were no waivers issued for a history of drug overdoses or suicide attempts.
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A history of severe depression raises the risk of suicide, a problem the military sought to minimize in part by eliminating waivers for many behavioral health issues in two thousand nine. Last fall, USA TODAY reported on Army documents that showed the service tried to ease the waiver process for recruits with a history of self-mutilation, bipolar disorder and depression. The Army encountered challenging recruiting goals, including adding more than seventy six thousand soldiers this year. In two thousand seventeen, it accepted more recruits who had fared poorly on aptitude tests, and it increased the number of waivers for marijuana use.
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Soldiers with bipolar disorder often require medication such as lithium. That medication must be monitored carefully, a task that may be impossible in harsh combat environments far from laboratories.
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http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/romaine-lettuce-outbreak-update-98-people-sick-22-54785859
According to health officials, a nasty strain of bacteria that can cause severe illness is what’s driving a food poisoning outbreak linked to romaine lettuce. The government now has reports of ninety eight people who got sick in twenty two states. Forty-six people have been hospitalized, including ten with kidney failure, which is an unusually high number of hospitalizations.
The outbreak has been blamed on E. coli bacteria in romaine lettuce grown in Yuma, Arizona. While most E. coli bacteria are not harmful, some produce toxins that can cause severe illness.
Matthew Wise of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the growing season in Yuma is pretty much over, but it’s possible some illnesses will still occur. The most recent illness began on April twenty. In the meantime, people should not buy or eat romaine unless they know it’s not from Yuma. The Yuma region provides most of the romaine sold in the U.S. during the winter.
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The CDC states that the types of E. coli that cause illness can be spread through contaminated water or food, or through contact with infected animals or persons.
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So far in Arizona, officials have tied eight of the ninety eight cases to whole head romaine lettuce grown at Harrison Farms in Yuma. Those eight cases were at a jail in Alaska.
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https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/apr/27/marijuana-legalization-measure-certified-for-novem/
Michigan state election officials moved last Thursday to let voters decide in November whether to legalize the possession and sale of recreational marijuana. The Michigan Board of State Canvassers unanimously voted four to zero in favor of certifying signatures submitted by marijuana legalization advocates who hoped to secure a spot on the November six ballot, effectively guaranteeing their placement unless the Legislature rejects the measure or offers a competing proposal in the next six months.
If approved by voters in the fall, Michigan stands to become the tenth state in the nation and first in the Midwest to legalize recreational marijuana in spite of the plant’s status as a federally prohibited Schedule one controlled substance. Michigan also stands to financially benefit if the ballot measure passes, according to its backers, and proponents have predicted that the measure may result in Michigan selling nearly one billion dollars worth of retail weed annually, potentially earning the state hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of revenue through a ten percent pot tax to be assessed on top of the existing six percent state sales tax.
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Twenty-nine states and Washington, D.C., passed laws allowing the use of medical marijuana, including Michigan in two thousand eight. Only nine have enacted laws legalizing recreational marijuana, however, only six of those currently have systems in place permitting retail weed sales.
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