Trump administration halts fetal tissue research by government scientists
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration said Wednesday that it is ending medical research by government scientists that uses human fetal tissue,.
The Health and Human Services Department said in a statement that government-funded research by universities that involves fetal tissue can continue for now, subject to additional scrutiny — although it also ended one major university project that used the tissue to test HIV treatments. That school — University of California, San Francisco — called the decision “politically motivated.”
Administration officials said the federal policy changes will not affect privately funded research.
Ending the use of fetal tissue by the National Institutes of Health has been a priority for anti-abortion activists, a core element of President Donald Trump’s political base. A senior administration official said it was the president’s call. The official wasn’t authorized to publicly discuss internal deliberations and spoke on condition of anonymity.
But research using fetal tissue has led to lifesaving advances , including development of vaccines for rubella and rabies and drugs to treat HIV. Scientists around the country denounced the decision, saying that fetal tissue was critically needed for research on HIV vaccines, treatments that harness the body’s immune system to battle cancer, and other health threats, including some to fetuses themselves.
Feds: No more education, legal services for immigrant kids
PHOENIX — The federal government has stopped paying for English-language courses and legal services at facilities that hold immigrant children around the country, imposing budget cuts it says are necessary at a time when record numbers of unaccompanied children are arriving at the border.
The Health and Human Services department notified shelters around the country last week that it was not going to reimburse them for teachers’ pay or other costs such as legal services or recreational equipment. The move appears to violate a legal settlement known as the Flores agreement that requires the government to provide education and recreational activities to immigrant children in its care.
But the agency says it doesn’t have the funding to provide those services as it deals with a soaring number of children coming to the U.S., largely from Central America.
It’s now up to the various nonprofit and private organizations run facilities for the children to cover the cost of teachers, supplies, legal services and even recreational activities and equipment — if they can, or choose to.
BCFS, a nonprofit provider in several Texas cities, said in a statement that it would continue providing services because not doing so would violate state licensing standards. It said it will use emergency funding from its parent organization.
Sudan protesters say 40 bodies pulled from Nile in capital
KHARTOUM, Sudan — More than 40 bodies of people slain by Sudanese security forces were pulled from the Nile River in the capital of Khartoum, organizers of pro-democracy demonstrations said Wednesday, and new clashes brought the death toll in three days of the ruling military’s crackdown to 108.
The Sudan Doctors Committee, one of the protest groups, reported eight more deaths by late Wednesday and said at least 509 people had been wounded.
Word about the retrieval of the bodies came as Sudan’s ruling general called for a resumption of negotiations with the protest leaders, which they promptly rejected. They said the generals cannot be serious about talks while troops keep killing protesters.
A spokesman for the protesters said that instead they would continue their demonstrations and strikes seeking to pressure the military into handing over power to a civilian authority.
The reported discovery of the bodies in the Nile suggested that Monday’s violent dispersal of the protest movement’s main sit-in camp, outside military headquarters, was even bloodier than initially believed. The attack on the camp was led by a notorious paramilitary unit called the Rapid Support Forces, along with other troops who waded into the camp, opening fire and beating protesters.
Doctor accused of murder in 25 patient overdose deaths
COLUMBUS, Ohio — An Ohio doctor was charged with murder Wednesday in the deaths of 25 hospital patients who, authorities say, were killed with deliberate overdoses of painkillers, many of them administered by other medical workers on his orders.
In one of the biggest cases of its kind ever brought against an American health care professional, William Husel was accused of ordering outsize doses of the powerful painkiller fentanyl. Many of the patients who died were on ventilators and receiving palliative care. The deaths occurred between 2015 and 2018.
Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien compared Husel’s actions to extinguishing a dwindling candle.
“That candle, while there may be just a half an inch of wax left, if I blow that candle out, I’m causing that flame to go out sooner than it would naturally,” O’Brien said.
Husel, 43, pleaded not guilty after turning himself in earlier in the day. A judge set bail at $1 million.
Carrie Underwood continues winning streak at CMT Awards
Carrie Underwood extended her run as the most decorated act in the history of the CMT Music Awards with her 19th win Wednesday.
Underwood won the night’s first televised award — female video of the year — for her song “Love Wins” at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.
“It is my husband’s birthday today — look what they got you,” said Underwood, who is married to former hockey player Mike Fisher.
The Grammy-winning country star will at also perform at the fan-voted show, where she is nominated for the top prize, video of the year.
Other video of the year nominees include Kane Brown’s “Good as You,” Luke Combs’ “She Got the Best of Me,” Kelsea Ballerini’s “Miss Me More,” and “Coming Home” by Keith Urban and Julia Michaels.