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Doctors and patients try to shame insurers online to reverse prior authorization denials

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:19:56 GMT

Lauren Sausser | (TNS) KFF Health NewsSally Nix was furious when her health insurance company refused to pay for the infusions she needs to ease her chronic pain and fatigue.Nix has struggled with a combination of autoimmune diseases since 2011. Brain and spinal surgeries didn’t ease her symptoms. Nothing worked, she said, until she started intravenous immunoglobulin infusions late last year. Commonly called IVIG, the treatment bolsters her compromised immune system with healthy antibodies from other people’s blood plasma.“IVIG turned out to be my great hope,” she said.That’s why, when Nix’s health insurer started denying payment for the treatment, she turned to Facebook and Instagram to vent her outrage.“I was raising Cain about it,” said Nix, 53, of Statesville, North Carolina, who said she was forced to pause treatment because she couldn’t afford to pay more than $13,000 out of pocket every four weeks. “There are times when you simply must call out wrongdoings,” she wrote on Inst...

Mayo Clinic Minute: Why kids with epilepsy need a seizure action plan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:19:56 GMT

Jason Howland | (TNS) Mayo Clinic News NetworkEpilepsy is a brain disorder that causes recurring seizures. And it’s common. It’s estimated that 1 in 26 people develop the disorder, according to the Epilepsy Foundation. It affects people of all genders, races and ages, including children.And as school is starting across the country, Dr. Anthony Fine, a Mayo Clinic pediatric neurologist and epileptologist, says it’s important that parents be proactive and make sure their students have something called a seizure action plan.“Seizures are scary … there’s always a momentary panic, what do I do? And so having a plan laid out, this is what to do when this child is having a seizure, it kind of prepares everyone,” says Dr. Fine.He’s talking about a seizure action plan.“It’s either a handwritten or typed out form that describes what this child’s seizure types are, their contact information for their families, their doctor’...

France’s public schools will enforce a dress code banning robes worn by some Muslims, president says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:19:56 GMT

PARIS (AP) — French students won’t get past the door if they show up for school wearing long robes, President Emmanuel Macron made clear Friday, saying authorities would be “intractable” in enforcing a new rule when classes resume next week. French Education Minister Gabriel Attal announced at a news conference four days ago that robes worn mainly by Muslims, known as abayas for girls and women and khamis for boys and men, would be banned with the start of the new school year on Monday.Macron addressed the dress code for the first publicly after visiting a professional school in the Vaucluse region of southern France “We know there will be cases” of students testing the rule, the president said, including ones trying to “defy the republican system.” Macron said they would not be able to slip into class, stressing that “we will be intractable on the subject.”The education minister described girls and boys wearing the robes i...

NFL’s RedZone channel will be available for streaming. But it’s going to cost you

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:19:56 GMT

Stephen Battaglio | Los Angeles Times (TNS)NFL RedZone, the popular cable channel that shows every scoring play of the league’s Sunday afternoon games, is coming to a streaming device near you.The NFL announced in August it will make the RedZone channel available in the higher priced version of NFL+, the subscription-based streaming service it introduced last year. The league’s NFL Network channel will be available to stream on the lower-priced NFL+ offering.The new features come with a significant price hikes, which take effect for the upcoming season.The NFL introduced NFL+ last year for $4.99 a month. The price will now be $6.99, as NFL Network joins the service that includes streaming of local market games and nationally televised prime time contests. A full season will cost $49, up from $39 a year ago.RedZone will be added to NFL+ Premium, which is increasing from $9.99 a month to $14.99, a 50% surge. The price for a full season will go up from $79.99 to $99.99. NFL...

Sources: Patriots swap one rookie wide receiver for another

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:19:56 GMT

The Patriots are making a wide receiver swap on their practice squad.The Pats are signing undrafted rookie wide receiver T.J. Luther and releasing another UDFA rookie wideout, Thyrick Pitts, in a corresponding roster move, according to sources.Luther, a Gardner-Webb product, was waived by the Jets on Tuesday. The 5-foot-11, 189-pound wide receiver took a Top-30 visit with the Patriots before the draft but wound up signing with the Jets in April. He was targeted six times but didn’t catch a pass during the preseason.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots mailbag: Tyquan Thornton’ standing in receiver mix amid latest IR stint New England Patriots | Patriots sign ex-Eagles WR to practice squad before opener vs. Philadelphia New England Patriots | Patriots WR Demario Douglas aiming to ‘make a statement’ in NFL debut New England Patriots | Source: Patriots claiming QB Matt Corral off waivers from ...

Mayo Clinic Q&A: Reducing teen’s risk of diabetes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:19:56 GMT

(TNS) Mayo Clinic News NetworkDEAR MAYO CLINIC: I am a 40-year-old overweight woman diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes a little over a year ago. I have become more mindful about the food our family eats, limiting sugar and incorporating more fruits and vegetables into meals at home. Recently, though, I learned my 14-year-old daughter has been “snacking” on spoons of granulated sugar daily. What can I do to reduce her risk for diabetes and reduce her addiction to sugar?ANSWER: Adherence to a strict diet can be challenging, regardless of the reason. While the road may be bumpy, you should be proud of your efforts to manage your illness and set a good example for your family to be more healthful.Having received a diagnosis of diabetes certainly makes you more aware of sugar, but ingesting a lot of sugar will not directly cause a diagnosis of diabetes.The body uses sugar as fuel and diabetes is a condition where the body has trouble managing blood sugar levels. Type 2 diabetes h...

Red tide, bioluminescent waves roll into parts of San Diego

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:19:56 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The red tide is back and it's rolling what appears to be electric blue waves into parts of San Diego's coastline.Scripps Institution of Oceanography captured aerial images this week of a red tide along Del Mar's Pacific edge. While speaking from Scripps Pier, Drew Lucas, an associate professor with Scripps Institution of Oceanography, explained the science behind this marvel. New local bike park offers downhill riding for thrill seekers "You'll see a red tide if you come to the beach. You look out, you'll notice that the water is extremely red-colored, rust-colored. And it has to do with an accumulation of millions and millions and billions of cells of an organism called Lingulodinium polyedra (L. poly), which is a dinoflagellate -- a type of plankton," Lucas explained.Red tide is a general name for the discoloration that results from the algae bloom.A red tide near a Del Mar mooring was spotted quickly moving landward during the last week of August. (Photo: Quinn Mon...

Mother killed by son in deadly Encanto shooting identified: SDSO

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:19:56 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The victim in a deadly shooting that led to a standoff at an Encanto home earlier this week has been identified, as well as the San Diego police officers who traded gunfire with the suspect.Rosario Morales, 74, was named as the deceased by the San Diego County Sheriff's Office. She was fatally shot on Monday, Aug. 28 by her son, Jesse Nelson.Officers were dispatched to the scene around 8:45 p.m. after receiving reports of a shooting at a residence in the 500 block of Iona Drive near the intersection of Market Street and Akins Avenue. Ex-SDSU football player pleads guilty to child porn possession Upon arrival, SDPD said the responding officers saw Morales and a dog down in the driveway in front of the home, each suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.As officers tried to approach the victim and the dog, Nelson began firing at the officers from inside the home. One officer returned fire at the suspect in response, SDPD said. That officer has been identified by SDSO as D...

Schooner that sank in Lake Michigan in 1881 found intact, miles off Wisconsin coastline

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:19:56 GMT

ALGOMA, Wis. (AP) — Shipwreck hunters have discovered the intact remains of a schooner that sank in Lake Michigan in 1881 and is so well-preserved it still contains the crew’s possessions in its final resting spot miles from Wisconsin’s coastline.Wisconsin maritime historians Brendon Baillod and Robert Jaeck found the 156-year-old Trinidad in July off Algoma at a depth of about 270 feet (82 meters). They used side-scan sonar to hone in on its location based on survivor accounts in historical records.“The wreck is among the best-preserved shipwrecks in Wisconsin waters with her deck-house still intact, containing the crew’s possessions and her anchors and deck gear still present,” states a Thursday news release announcing the Trinidad’s discovery.The 140-foot-long (43-meter-long) schooner was built at Grand Island, New York, in 1867 by shipwright William Keefe, and was used primarily in the grain trade between Milwaukee, Chicago and Oswego, New York.But it was carrying a ...

OAS says legal actions in Guatemala appear aimed at keeping president-elect from taking power

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:19:56 GMT

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — The head of the Organization of American States’ election observation mission said Friday that the actions taken by Guatemala’s justice system against the Seed Movement party of President-elect Bernardo Arévalo appear to be aimed at preventing him from taking power.Eladio Loizaga told a special meeting of the permanent council that the Aug. 20 election was peaceful, transparent and left no doubt as to the will of the people. But in summarizing the various legal actions taken by the Attorney General’s office against the Seed Movement, Loizaga said there appears to be clear political intent.“Given the documented conditions, it is impossible that the Electoral Observation Mission would arrive at any other conclusion than that in this very specific case the mechanisms and tools of Guatemalan justice are being used politically” against the Seed Movement, he said, adding that the behavior of Guatemalan authorities has been “selective, disproportionate and clear...