Health Highlights: July 17, 2015

Health Highlights: July 17, 2015

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

Nearly 2 Million Pounds of Chicken Products Recalled by Aspen Foods

About 1.9 million pounds of frozen, raw, stuffed and breaded chicken products have been recalled by Aspen Foods due to possible salmonella contamination.

The products were produced between April 15, 2015 and July 10, 2015 and have “best if used by” dates between July 14, 2016 and Oct. 10, 2016, the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service said.

The recalled products — which have the establishment number “P-1358” inside the USDA mark of inspection — were shipped to retail stores and food service locations across the United States.

The recall was announced after the products were linked to a salmonella outbreak in Minnesota. The state health department is working with federal health and food safety officials on the investigation.

Aspen Foods is a division of Koch Poultry Company in Chicago. For more information, consumers can phone the company at 1-844-277-6802.

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House of Representatives Passes Bill to Help Disabled Access Device

A bill to make it easier for people with communication disabilities to get assistive technology was passed Wednesday by the House of Representatives. The bill already has Senate approval and now goes to President Barack Obama.

The Steve Gleason Act is named for the former New Orleans Saints player who has been living with ALS since 2011 and relies on such technology. Changes made to Medicare last year meant that speech-generating devices were no longer covered, so Gleason began to lobby politicians to take action, NBC Sports reported.

In a Washington Post op-ed article, Gleason called the Medicare changes a “human rights violation.”

“We saw it happen far too many times. People who wished to live productively denied access to the one tool that could liberate them,” Gleason said in a statement. “People in hospice, who had their SGDs seized, so their last words to their loved ones were mere silence.”

He thanked activists and legislators for their working in getting the bill passed by Congress.