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THURSDAY, Aug. 19, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- The Biden Administration said Wednesday that a widely used pesticide will be banned because it's been linked to neurological damage in children.The new rule to block the use of chlorpyrifos on food will take effect in six months, the Environmental Protection Agency said."Today [the] EPA is taking an overdue step to protect public health," EPA head Michael Regan said in an agency news release. "Ending the use of chlorpyrifos on food will help to ensure children, farmworkers, and all people are protected from the potentially dangerous consequences of this pesticide."Available since the mid-1960s and among the most widely used pesticides, chlorpyrifos is routinely applied to corn, soybeans, apples, broccoli, asparagus and other produce, The New...

THURSDAY, Aug. 19, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- The former president and co-chairman of Purdue Pharma said Wednesday that his family and the company bear no responsibility for the opioid crisis in the United States.Dr. Richard Sackler made his comments in testimony delivered by video during a federal bankruptcy court confirmation hearing for a plan to restructure Purdue and settle all lawsuits against the company and family members for their part in the opioid epidemic, The New York Times reported.He was asked, "Do you have any responsibility for the opioid crisis in the United States?""No," Dr. Sackler, 76, replied."Does the Sackler family have any responsibility for the opioid crisis in the United States?""No," Sackler again replied.And finally:"Does Purdue Pharma have any responsibility...

THURSDAY, Aug. 19, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- A new pill specifically designed to prevent migraines appears to do the job, a new clinical trial finds.Atogepant cut patients' migraine days in half over 12 weeks of treatment, without causing serious side effects, the researchers said.Experts said the drug, if approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, would give migraine sufferers a welcome new option."There's a great need for new preventive medications," said Dr. Charles Flippen, a professor of clinical neurology at the University of California, Los Angeles.In the United States alone, more than 37 million people suffer from migraines, according to the American Migraine Foundation. Besides intense head pain, the condition often causes symptoms like nausea, visual disturbances, and...

THURSDAY, Aug. 19, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Almost 90% of U.S. parents plan to send their kids back to the classroom this fall, but fewer than 60% plan to get a COVID-19 vaccine for those who are old enough, a new poll reveals.Anxiety is also high among many parents, who wonder just how safe in-person learning will be as the highly contagious Delta variant spreads nationwide and the pandemic grinds on."To feel safe sending their children to school in-person, most parents – especially those still unsure about in-person schooling – want classroom ventilation, teachers to be vaccinated, and social distancing in schools, in that order," said Heather Schwartz, director of Pre-K to 12 educational systems at RAND, a nonprofit research organization.Those are key takeaways from RAND's July...