Health

An internal investigation finds that Border Patrol medical staff declined to review the file of an 8-year-old girl with a chronic heart condition and rare blood disorder before died on her ninth day in custody. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has said the Panamanian child’s parents shared the medical history with authorities after being taken into her custody. But CBP's Office of Professional Responsibility says in a statement released Thursday that a nurse practitioner declined to review documents about the girl the day she died and denied requests for an ambulance.

Dozens of transgender people in Florida who can't afford to move are turning to crowdfunding to help them leave after the passage of new legislation that targets the LGBTQ community. That includes a law that curtails access to gender-affirming care for adults and bans it for minors. People have given $200,000 since January to fundraisers on GoFundMe started by trans people seeking to leave Florida, according to data from the platform. Jalen Drummond is GoFundMe’s director of public affairs. Drummond said GoFundMe has also seen an increase of 39% from April to May in the number of fundraisers created to help trans people leave the state.

A college student who authorities say admitted setting fire to a building slated to become Wyoming’s only full-service abortion clinic is scheduled to appear in federal court. Lorna Roxanne Green is set to enter a plea to an arson charge on Friday. Court documents say Green told investigators she opposes abortion, experiences anxiety and has had nightmares over the clinic set to open in Casper last year, so she decided to burn it down. Abortion remains legal in conservative Wyoming. Lawmakers passed a ban this year but a state judge has put it on hold while an opposing lawsuit proceeds.

The families of two transgender teenagers are suing Idaho officials to block enforcement of a ban on gender-affirming medical care for minors. Idaho is one of at least 20 states in recent years to enact such a ban. Most of them have been challenged in court. But the laws and cases are so new that there's not a clear trend yet on outcomes. The Idaho ban is scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2024. The families who challenged it with a court filing on Thursday contend it violates constitutional rights to equal protection under the law for the teens and due process for their parents.

A new study suggests racial bias built into a common medical test for lung function is likely leading to fewer Black patients getting care for breathing problems. The study released Thursday in JAMA Network Open found that as many as 40% more Black men might be diagnosed with breathing problems if current diagnosis-assisting computer software was changed.

The Supreme Court has unanimously revived whistleblower lawsuits claiming that supermarket and pharmacy chains SuperValu and Safeway overcharged government health-care programs for prescription drugs by hundreds of millions of dollars. The decision Thursday gives the whistleblowers another chance to pursue their claims that the companies defrauded the Medicare and Medicaid programs when they reported retail prices for generic prescription drugs, even though they had mainly been sold to customers at deeply discounted prices. The cases stem from the companies’ effort to match a 2006 decision by Walmart to offer 30-day supplies of many generic drugs for $4.

The NFL has expanded The Smart Heart Sports Coalition to 26 member organizations as it continues to advocate for all 50 states to adopt policies that will prevent high school students from fatal outcomes from sudden cardiac arrest. The coalition was founded earlier this year in response to the life-saving emergency care provided to Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin. It’s made up of men’s and women’s professional sports organizations and leading medical and advocacy groups. The WNBA is among the latest professional sports organizations to join along with the National Women’s Soccer League, Women’s Tennis Association and United States Tennis Association. The NBA, NHL and MLB have been members of the coalition since it launched in March.

An Austrian federal court says the state can’t be held liable for a COVID-19 infection from an outbreak at an Alpine ski resort as the coronavirus pandemic hit Europe The Supreme Court of Justice on Thursday announced its verdict in a long-running legal battle involving a German resident who traveled to Ischgl in March 2020 and visited several apres-ski venues before returning home six days later. He experienced the first coronavirus symptoms shortly afterward. The plaintiff sought damages and a ruling that the Austrian federal government was liable for harm to him resulting from authorities’ errors or failings connected to the “mismanagement” of COVID-19 in Tyrol province in late February and early March 2020.

Authorities say a missing emergency room doctor from Missouri whose body was found in an Arkansas lake had died of an apparent gunshot wound. But they're still investigating what happened in the week since Dr. John Forsyth was last seen. The Benton County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday that a kayaker discovered the 49-year-old's body a day earlier. The department didn't specify if the gunshot might have been caused by someone else or was self-inflicted. The body was found roughly 20 miles south of Cassville, Missouri, the town where he worked. The doctor’s unlocked vehicle had been found near an aquatic park in Cassville. Police told the family Wednesday an investigation was ongoing.