Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:
Two-Year-Old Goes Home After Being in Hospital Since Birth
A two-year-old Texas girl who was born with her intestines and liver outside her body and has spent her entire life in hospital went home on Thursday.
Adalynn Willett spent 850 days in Cook Children’s Medical Center as she underwent 28 surgeries and extensive physical therapy. When she was born, her family thought Adalynn would spend about three months in the hospital, ABC News reported.
“She is very excited to be home,” says her father, Bryan Willett. “She is full of joy.”
Adalynn’s condition is called omphalocele. It affects about 1 out of every 5,386 babies born in the United States each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ABC News reported.
—–
Meningitis Victims’ Lawyers Likely to be Allowed to Inspect Pharmacy
Lawyers for victims of a deadly meningitis outbreak linked to a compounding pharmacy will likely be granted their request for a thorough inspection and testing at the Framingham, Mass. facility.
On Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jennifer Boal said she expects to issue an order allowing lawyers for people suing the New England Compounding Center to access the pharmacy, the Associated Press reported.
Thirty-six people died and more than 500 others have been sickened in the meningitis outbreak, according to health officials. The plaintiffs allege that they or family members contracted fungal meningitis from contaminated steroid injections made by the New England Compounding Center.
A lawyer for the center asked the judge to delay her decision about an inspection at the pharmacy until a judicial panel rules on whether lawsuits across the country will be heard by a single court, the AP reported.
—–
Duchess of Cambridge Leaves Hospital
The Duchess of Cambridge was discharged from hospital Thursday after being admitted on Monday for treatment for severe morning sickness.
As she left King Edward VII Hospital in London, the duchess smiled and posed briefly with her husband, Prince William, before getting into a waiting car, the Associated Press reported.
The duchess will spend of few days of rest at Kensington Palace in London, the royal couple’s office said.
Royal officials were forced to announce that the duchess was pregnant after she was admitted to hospital. They said that the duchess is not yet 12 weeks pregnant with the couple’s first child, the AP reported.
—–
CPSC Takes Action Against Nap Nanny Maker
Six infant deaths have prompted the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to take action against the maker of a portable baby recliner called the Nap Nanny.
In an administrative complaint, the CPSC alleges that the Nap Nanny “poses a substantial risk of injury and death to infants,” the Associated Press reported.
The CPSC is seeking an order that would force the manufacturer, Baby Matters of Berwyn, Pa., to alert the public about what the agency considers a serious product defect, and to offer consumers a full refund.
An email from Baby Matters said the company went out of business a month ago, the AP reported.
About 155,000 of three Nap Nanny models were sold since 2009.
—–
Federal Government Denied Rehearing on Graphic Cigarette Warnings
The U.S. government’s request for a rehearing on graphic health warnings on cigarette packages has been denied by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C.
The court did not provide any reason for its decision to deny the government’s request for the full court or a panel to rehear the case, the Associated Press reported.
In August, a three-judge panel upheld a lower court ruling blocking the Food and Drug Administration’s proposed health warnings that included photos of diseased and dead smokers. The judges ruled that the warnings violated the First Amendment’s free speech protections.
The government has 90 days to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, the AP reported.
—–
States Spending Less on Tobacco Prevention: Report
Despite record high revenues from tobacco taxes and the national tobacco settlement, states are spending less on tobacco prevention programs, according to a report released Thursday by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
The group said the amount spent by states on tobacco prevention in the past two years is the lowest in any period since the national tobacco settlement in 1998, The New York Times reported.
States will collect a record $25.7 billion in tobacco taxes and settlement money in the current fiscal year, but less than two percent of that will be spent on tobacco prevention, according to the document.
The tobacco settlement awarded states an estimated $246 billion over its first 25 years and give states complete control over how they spend the money. Many use the funds to fill budget gaps or for programs unrelated to tobacco, The Times reported.
Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., killing more than 400,000 people a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.