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FRIDAY, Nov. 11, 2022 (American Heart Association News) -- Zayne McCall was blue when he was born. Before his mother could hold him, doctors rushed him away to run tests.At first, they thought one of his lungs had collapsed. Further testing showed Zayne was born with heart defects – six of them.These included anomalous pulmonary venous return, a rare defect in which oxygen-rich blood returns to the right side of the heart instead of the left. Zayne also had complete atrioventricular canal defect, or a hole in the center of his heart, and pulmonary atresia, where the valve that controls blood flow from the heart to the lungs doesn't form.Hospital staff encouraged his parents, Debbie Perkins-McCall and Joey McCall, to call family members to meet Zayne right away. They feared he...

FRIDAY, Nov. 11, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Only one day after California voters approved allowing a state law banning flavored tobacco products to take effect, a tobacco giant has sued to prevent it. R.J. Reynolds on Wednesday filed a federal lawsuit challenging Proposition 31 and the law originally signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom two years ago. The law would ban the sale of all flavored tobacco and vaping products, and could happen within weeks.“Time and time again, Big Tobacco has attempted to steam roll state efforts to protect our youngest residents from the damaging effects of tobacco use,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. “While we have not yet been formally served with the lawsuit, we look forward to vigorously defending this important law in...

FRIDAY, Nov. 11, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Emergency rooms are clogged with people who are waiting for inpatient beds or other care and it's causing a crisis, according to the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP).ACEP is one of more than 30 medical, patient advocacy and public health and safety groups who have sent a letter to the White House asking for a summit to work on immediate and long-term solutions.The problem is urgent as U.S. emergency rooms deal with a "tripledemic" -- the respiratory disease threat of influenza, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).Dubbed "boarding," the problem means too many patients are waiting to be seen by ER doctors, for hospital admission, to return to their nursing home or to be transferred to psychiatric, skilled nursing or...

FRIDAY, Nov. 11, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- It's a potentially deadly issue: Some U.S. school administrators don’t keep life-saving albuterol asthma inhalers on hand because they’re afraid of getting sued for misuse. That's true even in states like Illinois, where strong "stock albuterol" laws are on the books, researchers say.Kids with asthma don’t always carry their inhalers, and some may not even know they have asthma until they have an attack, experts note. But stock inhaler programs in some states are designed to make sure schools do have an asthma reliever, such as albuterol, on hand in case of emergency.“Stock inhaler laws improve access to asthma reliever inhaler medications in schools for children who experience respiratory symptoms,” said study author Dr. Andrea...