WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden continues to “improve significantly” despite a lingering sore throat from his&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/boris-johnson-biden-covid-health-government-and-politics-fec6b4a56384b1f2bf7582aecb46aa36">coronavirus infection</a>, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Update-7.24.pdf">an update Sunday</a>&nbsp;from his doctor.

“The president is responding to therapy as expected,” wrote Dr. Kevin O’Connor in his latest note. Biden has been taking&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-pfizer-medication-f5f65e7e61d6aa9c7dfa193053e8878a">Paxlovid</a>, an antiviral drug that helps reduce the chance of severe illness.

O’Connor wrote that Biden still has a sore throat, though other symptoms, including a cough, runny nose and body aches, “have diminished considerably."

Biden tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday morning. O'Connor said Saturday that the president likely became infected with a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-united-states-pandemics-72462053f8d60fd548cf34377864100b">highly contagious variant, known as BA.5</a>, that is spreading throughout the country, and Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator, said Sunday, “It is the BA.5 variant.”

"Thank goodness our vaccines and therapeutics work well against it, which is why I think the president's doing well," Jha told CBS' “Face the Nation."

Jha also gave a positive update on the president's health.

“I checked in with his team late last night. He was feeling well. He had a good day yesterday,” Jha said.

That variant is&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-health-rochelle-walensky-centers-for-disease-control-and-prevention-government-politics-0bd2ccf19f1c27379f312b9edf5f3634">an offshoot of the omicron strain</a>&nbsp;that emerged late last year. It is believed responsible for the vast majority of coronavirus cases in the country. He has been isolating in the White House residence since then.

Administration officials have emphasized that his symptoms are mild because he has received four vaccine doses, and he started taking the antiviral drug Paxlovid after becoming infected.

The White House has not released any photos or video of Biden since Friday, when the media watched him participate in a virtual meeting with economic advisers.

Jha pledged that the White House would keep giving updates on the president's condition and whether he might have long-term symptoms.

“We think it’s really important for the American people to know how well their president is doing,” he said.

“Obviously if he has persistent symptoms, obviously if any of them interfere with his ability to carry out his duties, we will disclose that early and often with the American people. But I suspect that this is going to be a course of COVID that we've seen in many Americans who have ben fully vaccinated, double boosted, getting treated with those tools in hand,” Jha said. "The president’s been doing well and we’re going to expect that he's going to continue to do so.’’

Biden's press secretary has said 17 people, including members of the president's senior staff and at least one member of Congress, were determined to have been in close contact with Biden when he might have been contagious. None has tested positive so far, Jha said on “Fox News Sunday.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658710265970.png" alt="Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator, said, "The White House would keep giving updates on the president's condition and whether he might have long-term symptoms." />
 <figcaption>Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator, said, "The White House would keep giving updates on the president's condition and whether he might have long-term symptoms.</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden continues to “improve significantly” despite a lingering sore throat from his&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/boris-johnson-biden-covid-health-government-and-politics-fec6b4a56384b1f2bf7582aecb46aa36">coronavirus infection</a>, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Update-7.24.pdf">an update Sunday</a>&nbsp;from his doctor.“The president is responding to therapy as expected,” wrote Dr. Kevin O’Connor in his latest note. Biden has been taking&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-pfizer-medication-f5f65e7e61d6aa9c7dfa193053e8878a">Paxlovid</a>, an antiviral drug that helps reduce the chance of severe illness.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658710001474.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>O’Connor wrote that Biden still has a sore throat, though other symptoms, including a cough, runny nose and body aches, “have diminished considerably."Biden tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday morning. O'Connor said Saturday that the president likely became infected with a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-united-states-pandemics-72462053f8d60fd548cf34377864100b">highly contagious variant, known as BA.5</a>, that is spreading throughout the country, and Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator, said Sunday, “It is the BA.5 variant.”"Thank goodness our vaccines and therapeutics work well against it, which is why I think the president's doing well," Jha told CBS' “Face the Nation."Jha also gave a positive update on the president's health.“I checked in with his team late last night. He was feeling well. He had a good day yesterday,” Jha said.That variant is&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-health-rochelle-walensky-centers-for-disease-control-and-prevention-government-politics-0bd2ccf19f1c27379f312b9edf5f3634">an offshoot of the omicron strain</a>&nbsp;that emerged late last year. It is believed responsible for the vast majority of coronavirus cases in the country. He has been isolating in the White House residence since then.Administration officials have emphasized that his symptoms are mild because he has received four vaccine doses, and he started taking the antiviral drug Paxlovid after becoming infected.The White House has not released any photos or video of Biden since Friday, when the media watched him participate in a virtual meeting with economic advisers.Jha pledged that the White House would keep giving updates on the president's condition and whether he might have long-term symptoms.“We think it’s really important for the American people to know how well their president is doing,” he said.“Obviously if he has persistent symptoms, obviously if any of them interfere with his ability to carry out his duties, we will disclose that early and often with the American people. But I suspect that this is going to be a course of COVID that we've seen in many Americans who have ben fully vaccinated, double boosted, getting treated with those tools in hand,” Jha said. "The president’s been doing well and we’re going to expect that he's going to continue to do so.’’Biden's press secretary has said 17 people, including members of the president's senior staff and at least one member of Congress, were determined to have been in close contact with Biden when he might have been contagious. None has tested positive so far, Jha said on “Fox News Sunday.”

White House: Biden doing well due to 4 COVID vaccine doses

Three family members were shot to death while camping in a state park in eastern Iowa Friday, and the suspected gunman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.

Officers responded to reports of the shooting at the Maquoketa Caves State Park Campground before 6:30 a.m. Friday, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation said in a statement. Officers found three people fatally shot in a tent at the campground, division assistant director Mitch Mortvedt said.

The three victims were related, Mortvedt said. Later Friday, the Iowa Department of Public Safety identified them as Tyler Schmidt, 42, Sarah Schmidt, 42, and Lulu Schmidt, 6, all of Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Mortvedt didn't provide a motive for the killings.

Officials immediately evacuated everyone from the park, a children's summer camp on the grounds and the campground. Once the evacuation was complete, the only registered camper not accounted for was 23-year-old Anthony Sherwin, Mortvedt said.

“He was known to be armed. That of course heightened our awareness as well,” Mortvedt said. Iowa allows people with permits to carry firearms virtually anywhere in the state. Officials did not say if Sherwin had a permit.

Using a plane to help search the area, law enforcement later found Sherwin dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a wooded area of the park. Sherwin came from Nebraska, and investigators don't believe he had any prior relationship with the victims, Mortvedt said.

Mortvedt said he could not say whether Sherwin had a criminal record. A search of online court records in Nebraska and Iowa did not produce any record of prior criminal behavior.

Autopsies on Sherwin and the victims were scheduled to be performed over the weekend, Mortvedt said, and more information would likely be released based on those findings.

The park, which remained closed Friday, is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Cedar Rapids.

By Associated PressThree family members were shot to death while camping in a state park in eastern Iowa Friday, and the suspected gunman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.Officers responded to reports of the shooting at the Maquoketa Caves State Park Campground before 6:30 a.m. Friday, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation said in a statement. Officers found three people fatally shot in a tent at the campground, division assistant director Mitch Mortvedt said.The three victims were related, Mortvedt said. Later Friday, the Iowa Department of Public Safety identified them as Tyler Schmidt, 42, Sarah Schmidt, 42, and Lulu Schmidt, 6, all of Cedar Falls, Iowa.Mortvedt didn't provide a motive for the killings.Officials immediately evacuated everyone from the park, a children's summer camp on the grounds and the campground. Once the evacuation was complete, the only registered camper not accounted for was 23-year-old Anthony Sherwin, Mortvedt said.“He was known to be armed. That of course heightened our awareness as well,” Mortvedt said. Iowa allows people with permits to carry firearms virtually anywhere in the state. Officials did not say if Sherwin had a permit.Using a plane to help search the area, law enforcement later found Sherwin dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a wooded area of the park. Sherwin came from Nebraska, and investigators don't believe he had any prior relationship with the victims, Mortvedt said.Mortvedt said he could not say whether Sherwin had a criminal record. A search of online court records in Nebraska and Iowa did not produce any record of prior criminal behavior.Autopsies on Sherwin and the victims were scheduled to be performed over the weekend, Mortvedt said, and more information would likely be released based on those findings.The park, which remained closed Friday, is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Cedar Rapids.

Police: 3 fatally shot at Iowa state park; gunman also dead

By JACOB PELLINEN <a href="https://theconversation.com/silent-subtle-and-unseen-how-seizures-happen-and-why-theyre-hard-to-diagnose-184740">The Conversation</a>

The dramatic and incapacitating nature of seizures is reflected in 
the word itself, which derives from the Greek “to take hold” – like an 
invisible force suddenly grasping someone and controlling their body. 
This sense of an unknown force has driven many superstitions and 
misrepresentations of seizures throughout history.

Over the past century, the public’s understanding of seizures has 
been gleaned mostly from depictions in movies and television, which are 
often as disturbing as they are inaccurate. While these dramatic 
representations intensify visual storytelling, they frequently 
perpetuate stigma and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1528-1157.1999.tb00836.x">understate the complexity of seizures</a>.

The truth is, seizures are far more varied than what you see in 
popular culture. Instead, they are often subtle, silent and unseen.

<a href="https://som.ucdenver.edu/Profiles/Faculty/iframeProfile/30305">As a neurologist</a>
 who focuses on the comprehensive care of people who experience 
seizures, I subspecialize in the treatment of those with epilepsy. That 
includes identifying and improving gaps in epilepsy care. Research shows
 there are many.

A seizure is caused by sudden uncontrolled <a href="https://www.cureepilepsy.org/for-patients/understanding/basics/what-is-seizure/?">electrical activity from a group of neurons</a>.
 This hyperactivity overwhelms the brain’s normal tendency to suppress 
such abnormal activity on both a cellular and network level.

Not all seizures are indicative of epilepsy. An otherwise normal 
brain may experience seizures during alcohol withdrawal. Seizure-like 
events may also occur with an acute decrease in blood flow, which can 
cause fainting.  

Seizures associated with epilepsy, on the other hand, are <a href="https://www.epilepsydiagnosis.org/">unprovoked and often very difficult to predict</a>.
 A broad spectrum of underlying abnormalities can all lead to the 
development of epileptic seizures, including brain tumors, infections, 
strokes, traumatic brain injury, autoimmune conditions, developmental 
abnormalities and genetic predispositions.

Approximately 1 in 10 people <a href="https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.40.8.1163">will experience a seizure</a> during their lifetime. But only those with a risk of recurrent unprovoked seizures are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/epi.13670">considered to have epilepsy</a>, which represents about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/J.1528-1157.1993.TB02586.X">1 in 26 people</a>

Because of the wide variety of symptoms, substantial <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11910-021-01161-8">delays to diagnosis and treatment</a> can happen. When unrecognized and untreated, seizures worsen over time and lead to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2015.10.020">decreased quality of life</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/epi.16707">cognitive impairments</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1528-1157.1995.tb01660.x">injuries, including motor vehicle accidents</a>, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awt117">sometimes death</a>.

The irony is, much of the suffering is unnecessary. Most people with epilepsy <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1528-1167.2009.02481.x">can be seizure-free</a> through the use of an inexpensive medication.

Regardless of the cause, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1528-1167.2009.02481.x">focal seizures</a>
 are the most common type found in adults. This seizure type arises from
 hyperactivation of a confined brain region. For instance, a seizure 
arising from the left motor cortex of the brain may result in shaking of
 the right arm. A seizure arising from the visual cortex may cause a 
person to see flashes of light or other strange visual phenomena.

The most common brain region for focal seizures to arise is one of 
the temporal lobes, of which there are two – one on either side of the 
brain. These lobes serve many functions and are involved in vocal, 
auditory and visual processing, as well as emotions and memory. This is 
why seizures arising from these areas can lead to a variety of unusual 
symptoms.

Frequently, focal temporal lobe seizures are relatively subtle, 
particularly to witnesses. Sometimes they are comprised of purely 
unusual internal sensations such as sudden intense fear, a sudden sense 
of déjà vu or possibly a strong odor. Until a seizure spreads to involve
 more areas of the brain, it may not cause loss of consciousness or 
convulsions.

Because untreated seizures become more frequent and severe over time,
 it is not uncommon for epilepsy to begin with these relatively subtle 
focal seizures, then worsen as the seizures begin to involve more brain 
tissue, and eventually progress to convulsions.

A patient of mine described having strange symptoms for over a decade
 – symptoms he had not discussed before with me or anyone else. He 
described recurrent, sudden-onset euphoric sensations, which progressed 
to an inability to speak for one to two minutes. A bystander would think
 he was just staring into space. Over the years, these sensations 
increased in frequency. They eventually became more severe and led to 
loss of consciousness. 

After the patient began an anti-seizure medication regimen, the 
sensations went away, and he reported improvements in both memory and 
cognition. Fortunately, he did not experience physical injury, or worse,
 before his evaluation. But many people are not so lucky.

Recent studies have confirmed that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/epi4.12443">delays in diagnosis are common</a>
 among people who have epilepsy. Undoubtedly, this is because the early 
subtle and unusual symptoms are not well recognized by patients, 
families or medical professionals.

<a href="http://www.humanepilepsyproject.org/">The Human Epilepsy Project</a>
 is a large, multinational prospective study that followed nearly 500 
people with newly treated focal epilepsy for five years. I was among the
 researchers who analyzed the study’s data, and we found a striking 
diagnostic delay among many participants. Many of them experienced 
seizures for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/epi.16707">several months or even several years before diagnosis</a>.

From those first seizures to the diagnosis, half the participants 
experienced injuries; 5% had car accidents attributable to seizures. 
Extrapolating this data to the general population suggests that every 
year in the U.S., over 1,800 motor vehicle accidents are due to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/epi.16707">undiagnosed subtle focal seizures</a>. With a timely diagnosis, these accidents are potentially preventable.

However, even those evaluated for seizures don’t always receive the 
correct diagnosis or treatment. Nearly two-thirds of those participating
 in the Human Epilepsy Project sought an initial seizure evaluation in 
an emergency department. About 90% were there only after their first 
convulsive seizure – that is, after the seizure spread and now involved 
the full brain. 

But leading up to that first convulsive seizure, nearly half of 
participants had been experiencing nonmotor focal seizures, which went 
largely unrecognized. For that reason, many people who could have been 
diagnosed with epilepsy and started on treatment <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/acem.14114">were not</a>.

As it stands now, about 200,000 U.S. adults <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1528-1167.2008.01443.x">seek evaluation at a hospital’s emergency department</a>
 for a first lifetime seizure every year. Often, they are diagnosed with
 epilepsy at that time or shortly thereafter. Poor recognition of subtle
 seizures bears significant consequences for individuals, communities 
and the health care system. Improving our understanding of the diverse 
ways seizures arise and affect lives will help us close the gap and 
lessen the consequences.

Jacob Pellinen is an Assistant Professor of Neurology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658510248230.jpg" alt="Image courtesy of Pixabay" />
 <figcaption>Image courtesy of Pixabay</figcaption>
 </figure>By JACOB PELLINEN <a href="https://theconversation.com/silent-subtle-and-unseen-how-seizures-happen-and-why-theyre-hard-to-diagnose-184740">The Conversation</a>The dramatic and incapacitating nature of seizures is reflected in 
the word itself, which derives from the Greek “to take hold” – like an 
invisible force suddenly grasping someone and controlling their body. 
This sense of an unknown force has driven many superstitions and 
misrepresentations of seizures throughout history.Over the past century, the public’s understanding of seizures has 
been gleaned mostly from depictions in movies and television, which are 
often as disturbing as they are inaccurate. While these dramatic 
representations intensify visual storytelling, they frequently 
perpetuate stigma and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1528-1157.1999.tb00836.x">understate the complexity of seizures</a>. The truth is, seizures are far more varied than what you see in 
popular culture. Instead, they are often subtle, silent and unseen.<a href="https://som.ucdenver.edu/Profiles/Faculty/iframeProfile/30305">As a neurologist</a>
 who focuses on the comprehensive care of people who experience 
seizures, I subspecialize in the treatment of those with epilepsy. That 
includes identifying and improving gaps in epilepsy care. Research shows
 there are many.<figure>
 <iframe width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PG12JfJJW9U"></iframe>
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Why seizures occur</h2>A seizure is caused by sudden uncontrolled <a href="https://www.cureepilepsy.org/for-patients/understanding/basics/what-is-seizure/?">electrical activity from a group of neurons</a>.
 This hyperactivity overwhelms the brain’s normal tendency to suppress 
such abnormal activity on both a cellular and network level. Not all seizures are indicative of epilepsy. An otherwise normal 
brain may experience seizures during alcohol withdrawal. Seizure-like 
events may also occur with an acute decrease in blood flow, which can 
cause fainting. Seizures associated with epilepsy, on the other hand, are <a href="https://www.epilepsydiagnosis.org/">unprovoked and often very difficult to predict</a>.
 A broad spectrum of underlying abnormalities can all lead to the 
development of epileptic seizures, including brain tumors, infections, 
strokes, traumatic brain injury, autoimmune conditions, developmental 
abnormalities and genetic predispositions.<h2>Seizures are not uncommon</h2>Approximately 1 in 10 people <a href="https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.40.8.1163">will experience a seizure</a> during their lifetime. But only those with a risk of recurrent unprovoked seizures are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/epi.13670">considered to have epilepsy</a>, which represents about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/J.1528-1157.1993.TB02586.X">1 in 26 people</a>Because of the wide variety of symptoms, substantial <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11910-021-01161-8">delays to diagnosis and treatment</a> can happen. When unrecognized and untreated, seizures worsen over time and lead to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2015.10.020">decreased quality of life</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/epi.16707">cognitive impairments</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1528-1157.1995.tb01660.x">injuries, including motor vehicle accidents</a>, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awt117">sometimes death</a>. The irony is, much of the suffering is unnecessary. Most people with epilepsy <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1528-1167.2009.02481.x">can be seizure-free</a> through the use of an inexpensive medication.<h2>Focal seizures</h2>Regardless of the cause, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1528-1167.2009.02481.x">focal seizures</a>
 are the most common type found in adults. This seizure type arises from
 hyperactivation of a confined brain region. For instance, a seizure 
arising from the left motor cortex of the brain may result in shaking of
 the right arm. A seizure arising from the visual cortex may cause a 
person to see flashes of light or other strange visual phenomena. The most common brain region for focal seizures to arise is one of 
the temporal lobes, of which there are two – one on either side of the 
brain. These lobes serve many functions and are involved in vocal, 
auditory and visual processing, as well as emotions and memory. This is 
why seizures arising from these areas can lead to a variety of unusual 
symptoms.Frequently, focal temporal lobe seizures are relatively subtle, 
particularly to witnesses. Sometimes they are comprised of purely 
unusual internal sensations such as sudden intense fear, a sudden sense 
of déjà vu or possibly a strong odor. Until a seizure spreads to involve
 more areas of the brain, it may not cause loss of consciousness or 
convulsions.Because untreated seizures become more frequent and severe over time,
 it is not uncommon for epilepsy to begin with these relatively subtle 
focal seizures, then worsen as the seizures begin to involve more brain 
tissue, and eventually progress to convulsions.<figure>
 <iframe width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/W_uXaXwVQ4c"></iframe>
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Delays in diagnosis</h2>A patient of mine described having strange symptoms for over a decade
 – symptoms he had not discussed before with me or anyone else. He 
described recurrent, sudden-onset euphoric sensations, which progressed 
to an inability to speak for one to two minutes. A bystander would think
 he was just staring into space. Over the years, these sensations 
increased in frequency. They eventually became more severe and led to 
loss of consciousness. After the patient began an anti-seizure medication regimen, the 
sensations went away, and he reported improvements in both memory and 
cognition. Fortunately, he did not experience physical injury, or worse,
 before his evaluation. But many people are not so lucky.Recent studies have confirmed that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/epi4.12443">delays in diagnosis are common</a>
 among people who have epilepsy. Undoubtedly, this is because the early 
subtle and unusual symptoms are not well recognized by patients, 
families or medical professionals. <h2>A revealing study</h2><a href="http://www.humanepilepsyproject.org/">The Human Epilepsy Project</a>
 is a large, multinational prospective study that followed nearly 500 
people with newly treated focal epilepsy for five years. I was among the
 researchers who analyzed the study’s data, and we found a striking 
diagnostic delay among many participants. Many of them experienced 
seizures for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/epi.16707">several months or even several years before diagnosis</a>. From those first seizures to the diagnosis, half the participants 
experienced injuries; 5% had car accidents attributable to seizures. 
Extrapolating this data to the general population suggests that every 
year in the U.S., over 1,800 motor vehicle accidents are due to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/epi.16707">undiagnosed subtle focal seizures</a>. With a timely diagnosis, these accidents are potentially preventable.However, even those evaluated for seizures don’t always receive the 
correct diagnosis or treatment. Nearly two-thirds of those participating
 in the Human Epilepsy Project sought an initial seizure evaluation in 
an emergency department. About 90% were there only after their first 
convulsive seizure – that is, after the seizure spread and now involved 
the full brain. But leading up to that first convulsive seizure, nearly half of 
participants had been experiencing nonmotor focal seizures, which went 
largely unrecognized. For that reason, many people who could have been 
diagnosed with epilepsy and started on treatment <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/acem.14114">were not</a>. As it stands now, about 200,000 U.S. adults <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1528-1167.2008.01443.x">seek evaluation at a hospital’s emergency department</a>
 for a first lifetime seizure every year. Often, they are diagnosed with
 epilepsy at that time or shortly thereafter. Poor recognition of subtle
 seizures bears significant consequences for individuals, communities 
and the health care system. Improving our understanding of the diverse 
ways seizures arise and affect lives will help us close the gap and 
lessen the consequences.<div><iframe src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184740/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" width="1" height="1"></iframe></div>Jacob Pellinen is an Assistant Professor of Neurology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

Silent, subtle, unseen:How seizures happen, why they’re hard to diagnose

WASHINGTON&nbsp;– A year after a new federal law aimed at fighting robocalls, the number of phone companies that have adopted the required technology has quadrupled and the volume of scam robocalls has dropped in half, according to a media release from&nbsp;<a href="https://uspirg.org/">U.S. PIRG an</a> advocate for the public interest.

Spam texts have increased more than tenfold as con artists and identity thieves find alternative ways to steal Americans’ personal information and money.

“Too often, we hear stories about elderly people who lose their life savings after responding to someone they think is from their bank,” said&nbsp;<a href="https://uspirgedfund.org/staff/usp/teresa-murray">Teresa Murray</a>, consumer watchdog with the U.S. PIRG Education Fund.&nbsp;”I’d like to see regulators, lawmakers and executives from phone companies explain to each family why they haven’t done more to help their grandma or grandpa.”

In a new report by U.S. PIRG Education Fund,&nbsp;<a href="https://uspirgedfund.org/blogs/blog/usf/ringing-our-fears">“Ringing in our Fears,”</a>&nbsp;Our analysis of the Federal Communications Commission’s robocall mitigation database of 7,514 voice providers nationwide shows:

The phone companies’ actions appear to be helping, but clearly, incomplete compliance has not solved our national robocall problem. The number of monthly scam robocalls has dropped from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/just-over-4-4-billion-robocalls-in-june-mark-11-monthly-increase-says-youmail-robocall-index-301327740.html?tc=eml_cleartime">2.1 billion</a>&nbsp;to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-phones-received-almost-4-billion-robocalls-in-may-says-youmail-robocall-index-301563887.html">1.1 billion</a>&nbsp;in the year since the law took effect, according to a leading robocall-filtering company. While robocalls may be ringing in our ears less often, excessive robotexts are now ringing in our fears of being scammed: Spam texts have increased from 1 billion to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.robokiller.com/spam-text-insights">12 billion a month</a>&nbsp;in the last year.

“I’ve focused on scam robocalls for 15 years and can’t believe we haven’t made more progress,” Murray said. “The FCC approves new rules, Congress passes new laws, yet we still have more than a billion scam robocalls and 12 times as many robotexts a month. Americans deserve better enforcement, and corporations need to take their share of&nbsp;responsibility.”

The report offers reasons for short-term optimism, including the FCC targeting both “gateway” providers that funnel scam calls from overseas and smaller providers that originally were exempt from the law until June 2023, but now must comply. Still, more needs to be done, including allowing public access to “traceback” data that shows which companies originate or allow scam robocalls on their lines.

“Research shows that 80 percent of us generally don’t answer calls from an unknown number,” Murray said. “We rely on our phones, we pay good money for our phones, but it’s become a hassle to use our phones the way we want to -- to answer calls and texts. And the tales of people whose lives are wrecked by scam calls and texts are gut-wrenching. It needs to stop.”

WASHINGTON&nbsp;– A year after a new federal law aimed at fighting robocalls, the number of phone companies that have adopted the required technology has quadrupled and the volume of scam robocalls has dropped in half, according to a media release from&nbsp;<a href="https://uspirg.org/">U.S. PIRG an</a> advocate for the public interest. Spam texts have increased more than tenfold as con artists and identity thieves find alternative ways to steal Americans’ personal information and money.“Too often, we hear stories about elderly people who lose their life savings after responding to someone they think is from their bank,” said&nbsp;<a href="https://uspirgedfund.org/staff/usp/teresa-murray">Teresa Murray</a>, consumer watchdog with the U.S. PIRG Education Fund.&nbsp;”I’d like to see regulators, lawmakers and executives from phone companies explain to each family why they haven’t done more to help their grandma or grandpa.”In a new report by U.S. PIRG Education Fund,&nbsp;<a href="https://uspirgedfund.org/blogs/blog/usf/ringing-our-fears">“Ringing in our Fears,”</a>&nbsp;Our analysis of the Federal Communications Commission’s robocall mitigation database of 7,514 voice providers nationwide shows:<ul>
 <li>1,932 have installed the industry-standard STIR/SHAKEN technology, up from 536 companies last year.</li><li>1,518 have partially adopted the STIR/SHAKEN technology, up from 817 companies last year.</li><li>3,062 have not installed STIR/SHAKEN but claim to be using their own robocall mitigation system. That compares with 1,710 companies last year. The increase reflects companies that didn’t report their status last year.</li><li>1,002 claimed they’re exempt from the requirements, almost all because they’re intermediate providers that don’t originate or complete calls.</li>
 </ul>The phone companies’ actions appear to be helping, but clearly, incomplete compliance has not solved our national robocall problem. The number of monthly scam robocalls has dropped from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/just-over-4-4-billion-robocalls-in-june-mark-11-monthly-increase-says-youmail-robocall-index-301327740.html?tc=eml_cleartime">2.1 billion</a>&nbsp;to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-phones-received-almost-4-billion-robocalls-in-may-says-youmail-robocall-index-301563887.html">1.1 billion</a>&nbsp;in the year since the law took effect, according to a leading robocall-filtering company. While robocalls may be ringing in our ears less often, excessive robotexts are now ringing in our fears of being scammed: Spam texts have increased from 1 billion to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.robokiller.com/spam-text-insights">12 billion a month</a>&nbsp;in the last year.“I’ve focused on scam robocalls for 15 years and can’t believe we haven’t made more progress,” Murray said. “The FCC approves new rules, Congress passes new laws, yet we still have more than a billion scam robocalls and 12 times as many robotexts a month. Americans deserve better enforcement, and corporations need to take their share of&nbsp;responsibility.”The report offers reasons for short-term optimism, including the FCC targeting both “gateway” providers that funnel scam calls from overseas and smaller providers that originally were exempt from the law until June 2023, but now must comply. Still, more needs to be done, including allowing public access to “traceback” data that shows which companies originate or allow scam robocalls on their lines.“Research shows that 80 percent of us generally don’t answer calls from an unknown number,” Murray said. “We rely on our phones, we pay good money for our phones, but it’s become a hassle to use our phones the way we want to -- to answer calls and texts. And the tales of people whose lives are wrecked by scam calls and texts are gut-wrenching. It needs to stop.”

Report: Robotexts skyrocket 1 year after federal law to fight robocalls

(AP)-In 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, acting on input from a group of veterinary researchers, began investigating whether the increasing popularity of grain-free dog foods had led to a sudden rise in a potentially fatal heart disease in dogs, dilated cardiomyopathy.

Four years later, the FDA has found no firm link between diet and dilated cardiomyopathy. Nor has it rejected such a link, and research is ongoing. Publicity surrounding this issue, nevertheless, has shrunk the once-promising market for grain-free dog foods.

Furthermore, a tangled web of industry funding and interests appears to have influenced the origin, data collection, and course of the FDA study, according to internal FDA records.

A six-month investigation by&nbsp;<a href="https://bit.ly/3aSEYSp">100Reporters</a>&nbsp;has found that veterinarians who prompted the FDA to consider diet have financial and other ties to the leading sellers of grain-inclusive pet foods. Additionally, agency records show that for the initial study, some vets were instructed to submit only dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) cases that implicated grain-free, “exotic” or “boutique” pet foods. Suppliers of ingredients used in grain-free dog foods have also exerted pressure on the FDA to protect their market.

Consequently, the conversation around DCM and grain-free food is deeply divided, with each side claiming the other is prioritizing industry relationships over scientific integrity and the lives of pets.

“This became such an emotional issue,” said Dana Brooks, CEO of the Pet Food Institute, whose members produce most pet foods in the US. “We’re scrambling to try to even determine what’s going on.”

Grain-free pet diets became popular in the early 2000s, relying heavily on pulses — seeds from legume plants including peas, beans and lentils. By 2019, grain-free kibble represented 43 percent of dry pet foods sold.

Until 2017, the FDA saw one to three reports of DCM annually. But between January 1 and July 10, 2018, it received 25 cases. Seven reports came from a single source, animal nutritionist Lisa Freeman from Tufts University’s Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, an FDA spokesperson said. FDA records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, however, indicate those reports may not have been fully representative of cases seen at the Tufts clinic.

In a June 2018 email to FDA veterinary medical officer Jennifer Jones, Freeman attached a document instructing vets to report cases to the FDA, “If patient is eating any diet besides those made by well-known, reputable companies or if eating a boutique, exotic ingredient, or grain-free (BEG) diet.”

When asked if this could be perceived as cherry-picking data that would shape the inquiry, Freeman stated through Tufts media relations: “The protocol in that email was developed for and intended to help veterinary cardiologists in the early stages of the investigation into potential associations between diet and dilated cardiomyopathy.”

“I shared the protocol with the FDA to inform them of what our clinical recommendations for patients were at that time,” Freeman wrote, noting they’re “continuing to study” any diet with ingredients linked to DCM “regardless of manufacturer.”

In an email, an FDA spokesperson wrote, “The FDA has never requested that DCM cases reported to the agency be limited to certain diet types. We welcome all DCM reports with a suspected link to food, regardless of the type of diet.”

According to PubMed.gov, Freeman has received funding from leading sellers of grain-inclusive foods, including Nestle Purina Petcare, Hill’s Pet Nutrition, and Mars Petcare, since 2002. Her recent conflict-of-interest declarations state: “In the last 3 years, Dr. Freeman has received research funding from, given sponsored lectures for, and/or provided professional services to Aratana Therapeutics, Elanco, Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Nestlé Purina PetCare, P&amp;G Pet Care (now Mars), and Royal Canin.”

Industry funding is common in animal nutrition science. Freeman said she stands behind her research and has “ transparently disclosed the sources of funding for the work I conduct on this topic.”

Two veterinary cardiologists—Darcy Adin from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine and Joshua Stern from the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine—also collaborated with the FDA.

Emails from a public records request indicate that in April 2018, Jones spoke with Freeman, Stern and Adin about grain-free dog foods and DCM and requested spreadsheets of their clinical case data.

Adin has been involved in studies that received funding from Purina since 2018 and, since 2017, from the Morris Animal Foundation, a nonprofit animal health charity founded by Mark Morris Sr., who created the first line of dog foods produced by the company that would become Hill’s Pet Nutrition.

University of Florida’s public relations said neither Adin nor the university received direct financial support from the companies for these studies.

Stern has authored studies funded by the Morris Animal Foundation since 2011, and currently receives funding from the foundation.

“I completely understand conflict-of-interest concerns with people being funded by the pet food industry,” Stern said. “It’s hard to find a veterinary nutritionist that hasn’t done research for pet food companies.”

Purina, Hill’s and Mars didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment.

In July 2018, the FDA announced its investigation, noting many of the 25 dogs diagnosed lacked a genetic predisposition to DCM. The common thread, it said, appeared to be a grain-free diet.

A year later, the FDA took the unusual step of naming 16 dog foods, nearly all grain-free, that appeared most frequently in their DCM case reports. “We’ve never seen anything like that before without a certainty of the cause,” said Brooks.

Joseph Bartges, professor of animal nutrition at the University of Georgia, wasn’t surprised, noting the FDA flagged grain-free food early on. “When you only look for what you want to see, you only see what you look for,” Bartges said. By July 2020, reports of DCM numbered 1,100 — likely resulting from the FDA encouraging people to report the disease," said Brooks.

Suppliers of ingredients for grain-free foods, in turn, marshaled forces to protect their market share.

In its 2019 annual report, the USA Dry Pea &amp; Lentil Council said it “convinced the FDA to clarify their language about their concerns and minimize the damage to the industry.”

In a 2019 letter to FDA officials, Sen. Jon Tester from Montana — a principal growing region for pulses— complained the agency’s “unsubstantiated warning” had hurt pulse farmers. The following year, seven senators signed another letter to the FDA flagging potential “bias about causation of this disease.”

The FDA has continuously stated that DCM involves multiple factors. Shortly after that letter, Steven Solomon, director of the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), emphasized this point, describing DCM as “a scientifically complex, multifaceted issue,” adding that “we . . . currently do not view this as a regulatory issue.”

An FDA spokesperson wrote that while it met with stakeholders, “Ultimately, all FDA decisions and work are guided by science, data, and our public health mission.”

Regardless of the investigation’s ultimate findings, sales of grain-free dry dog foods have fallen since June 2018 and decreased by $60 million from 2021 to 2022. Meanwhile, grain-inclusive sales spiked in 2019 and rose by $700 million from 2020 to 2021.

Getting an answer about DCM will be difficult thanks to the complexity of the science and industry influence, said Marion Nestle, author of Pet Food Politics. “They’re all trying to protect their market share.”

This article is an abridged version of an investigation produced by&nbsp;<a href="https://bit.ly/3aSEYSp">100Reporters</a>, a nonprofit investigative news organization, with financial support from the Fund for Investigative Journalism and legal guidance from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

This story was first published on July 20, 2022. It was updated on July 23, 2022 to correct that the founder of the Morris Animal Foundation created the first line of dog foods produced by the company that would become Hill’s Pet Nutrition, but did not start the company; and to remove an erroneous reference to the foundation being chaired by a Hill’s Pet Nutrition employee; it is not.

<a href="https://northplattepost.com/posts/2ddcec21-000f-4ace-b19e-4250120d6629">&nbsp;&nbsp;Download The Post app for iOs or Android</a>

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658665756012.jpeg" alt="Bags of dog food are displayed at a supermarket Tuesday, July, 19, 2022, in Miami, Fla. In 2018, the FDA began investigating whether the increasing popularity of grain-free dog foods had led to a sudden rise in a potentially fatal heart disease in dogs. Four years later, the FDA has reached no conclusion, but the publicity surrounding the issue has shrunk the once-promising market for grain-free dog foods. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)" />
 <figcaption>Bags of dog food are displayed at a supermarket Tuesday, July, 19, 2022, in Miami, Fla. In 2018, the FDA began investigating whether the increasing popularity of grain-free dog foods had led to a sudden rise in a potentially fatal heart disease in dogs. Four years later, the FDA has reached no conclusion, but the publicity surrounding the issue has shrunk the once-promising market for grain-free dog foods. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)</figcaption>
 </figure>By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS(AP)-In 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, acting on input from a group of veterinary researchers, began investigating whether the increasing popularity of grain-free dog foods had led to a sudden rise in a potentially fatal heart disease in dogs, dilated cardiomyopathy.Four years later, the FDA has found no firm link between diet and dilated cardiomyopathy. Nor has it rejected such a link, and research is ongoing. Publicity surrounding this issue, nevertheless, has shrunk the once-promising market for grain-free dog foods.Furthermore, a tangled web of industry funding and interests appears to have influenced the origin, data collection, and course of the FDA study, according to internal FDA records.A six-month investigation by&nbsp;<a href="https://bit.ly/3aSEYSp">100Reporters</a>&nbsp;has found that veterinarians who prompted the FDA to consider diet have financial and other ties to the leading sellers of grain-inclusive pet foods. Additionally, agency records show that for the initial study, some vets were instructed to submit only dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) cases that implicated grain-free, “exotic” or “boutique” pet foods. Suppliers of ingredients used in grain-free dog foods have also exerted pressure on the FDA to protect their market.Consequently, the conversation around DCM and grain-free food is deeply divided, with each side claiming the other is prioritizing industry relationships over scientific integrity and the lives of pets.“This became such an emotional issue,” said Dana Brooks, CEO of the Pet Food Institute, whose members produce most pet foods in the US. “We’re scrambling to try to even determine what’s going on.”CAUSE FOR CONCERNGrain-free pet diets became popular in the early 2000s, relying heavily on pulses — seeds from legume plants including peas, beans and lentils. By 2019, grain-free kibble represented 43 percent of dry pet foods sold.Until 2017, the FDA saw one to three reports of DCM annually. But between January 1 and July 10, 2018, it received 25 cases. Seven reports came from a single source, animal nutritionist Lisa Freeman from Tufts University’s Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, an FDA spokesperson said. FDA records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, however, indicate those reports may not have been fully representative of cases seen at the Tufts clinic.In a June 2018 email to FDA veterinary medical officer Jennifer Jones, Freeman attached a document instructing vets to report cases to the FDA, “If patient is eating any diet besides those made by well-known, reputable companies or if eating a boutique, exotic ingredient, or grain-free (BEG) diet.”When asked if this could be perceived as cherry-picking data that would shape the inquiry, Freeman stated through Tufts media relations: “The protocol in that email was developed for and intended to help veterinary cardiologists in the early stages of the investigation into potential associations between diet and dilated cardiomyopathy.”“I shared the protocol with the FDA to inform them of what our clinical recommendations for patients were at that time,” Freeman wrote, noting they’re “continuing to study” any diet with ingredients linked to DCM “regardless of manufacturer.”In an email, an FDA spokesperson wrote, “The FDA has never requested that DCM cases reported to the agency be limited to certain diet types. We welcome all DCM reports with a suspected link to food, regardless of the type of diet.”According to PubMed.gov, Freeman has received funding from leading sellers of grain-inclusive foods, including Nestle Purina Petcare, Hill’s Pet Nutrition, and Mars Petcare, since 2002. Her recent conflict-of-interest declarations state: “In the last 3 years, Dr. Freeman has received research funding from, given sponsored lectures for, and/or provided professional services to Aratana Therapeutics, Elanco, Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Nestlé Purina PetCare, P&amp;G Pet Care (now Mars), and Royal Canin.”Industry funding is common in animal nutrition science. Freeman said she stands behind her research and has “ transparently disclosed the sources of funding for the work I conduct on this topic.”Two veterinary cardiologists—Darcy Adin from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine and Joshua Stern from the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine—also collaborated with the FDA.Emails from a public records request indicate that in April 2018, Jones spoke with Freeman, Stern and Adin about grain-free dog foods and DCM and requested spreadsheets of their clinical case data.Adin has been involved in studies that received funding from Purina since 2018 and, since 2017, from the Morris Animal Foundation, a nonprofit animal health charity founded by Mark Morris Sr., who created the first line of dog foods produced by the company that would become Hill’s Pet Nutrition.University of Florida’s public relations said neither Adin nor the university received direct financial support from the companies for these studies.Stern has authored studies funded by the Morris Animal Foundation since 2011, and currently receives funding from the foundation.“I completely understand conflict-of-interest concerns with people being funded by the pet food industry,” Stern said. “It’s hard to find a veterinary nutritionist that hasn’t done research for pet food companies.”Purina, Hill’s and Mars didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment.In July 2018, the FDA announced its investigation, noting many of the 25 dogs diagnosed lacked a genetic predisposition to DCM. The common thread, it said, appeared to be a grain-free diet.A year later, the FDA took the unusual step of naming 16 dog foods, nearly all grain-free, that appeared most frequently in their DCM case reports. “We’ve never seen anything like that before without a certainty of the cause,” said Brooks.Joseph Bartges, professor of animal nutrition at the University of Georgia, wasn’t surprised, noting the FDA flagged grain-free food early on. “When you only look for what you want to see, you only see what you look for,” Bartges said. By July 2020, reports of DCM numbered 1,100 — likely resulting from the FDA encouraging people to report the disease," said Brooks.INFLUENTIAL INDUSTRYSuppliers of ingredients for grain-free foods, in turn, marshaled forces to protect their market share.In its 2019 annual report, the USA Dry Pea &amp; Lentil Council said it “convinced the FDA to clarify their language about their concerns and minimize the damage to the industry.”In a 2019 letter to FDA officials, Sen. Jon Tester from Montana — a principal growing region for pulses— complained the agency’s “unsubstantiated warning” had hurt pulse farmers. The following year, seven senators signed another letter to the FDA flagging potential “bias about causation of this disease.”The FDA has continuously stated that DCM involves multiple factors. Shortly after that letter, Steven Solomon, director of the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), emphasized this point, describing DCM as “a scientifically complex, multifaceted issue,” adding that “we . . . currently do not view this as a regulatory issue.”An FDA spokesperson wrote that while it met with stakeholders, “Ultimately, all FDA decisions and work are guided by science, data, and our public health mission.”Regardless of the investigation’s ultimate findings, sales of grain-free dry dog foods have fallen since June 2018 and decreased by $60 million from 2021 to 2022. Meanwhile, grain-inclusive sales spiked in 2019 and rose by $700 million from 2020 to 2021.Getting an answer about DCM will be difficult thanks to the complexity of the science and industry influence, said Marion Nestle, author of Pet Food Politics. “They’re all trying to protect their market share.”______This article is an abridged version of an investigation produced by&nbsp;<a href="https://bit.ly/3aSEYSp">100Reporters</a>, a nonprofit investigative news organization, with financial support from the Fund for Investigative Journalism and legal guidance from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.______This story was first published on July 20, 2022. It was updated on July 23, 2022 to correct that the founder of the Morris Animal Foundation created the first line of dog foods produced by the company that would become Hill’s Pet Nutrition, but did not start the company; and to remove an erroneous reference to the foundation being chaired by a Hill’s Pet Nutrition employee; it is not.<a href="https://northplattepost.com/posts/2ddcec21-000f-4ace-b19e-4250120d6629">&nbsp;&nbsp;Download The Post app for iOs or Android</a><figure>
 <img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/mOfCt74XiABF6NHi5mz_6Tu_1KfzDtwkhu58qOR9R_Ry6b_ftTSyYgvFbBSFodQMFctqKC0G8DYAbSKgSMC9Zg_HeLBSE0l-bnTwxGy166DcrOGJLBT9D-_b5BVznSdNrzHLuHF0Iw7Odi0ng8JEkw" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>

How canine heart disease was tied to grain-free dog food

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden likely contracted a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-united-states-pandemics-72462053f8d60fd548cf34377864100b">highly contagious variant</a>&nbsp;of the coronavirus spreading rapidly through the United States, and now has body aches and a sore throat since his&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/boris-johnson-biden-covid-health-government-and-politics-fec6b4a56384b1f2bf7582aecb46aa36">positive test</a>, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Update-7.23.pdf">an update from his doctor</a>&nbsp;on Saturday.

The variant, known as BA.5, is&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-health-rochelle-walensky-centers-for-disease-control-and-prevention-government-politics-0bd2ccf19f1c27379f312b9edf5f3634">an offshoot of the omicron strain</a>&nbsp;that emerged late last year, and it's believed to be responsible for the vast majority of coronavirus cases in the country.

Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the president’s physician, wrote in his latest update on Biden's condition that Biden's earlier symptoms, including a runny nose and a cough, have become “less troublesome.” O'Connor's earlier notes did not mention the sore throat or body aches.

Biden's vital signs, such as blood pressure and respiratory rate, “remain entirely normal,” and his oxygen saturation levels are “excellent” with “no shortness of breath at all," the doctor wrote.

O'Connor said the results of the preliminary sequencing that indicated the BA.5 variant do not affect Biden's treatment plan “in any way.”

Biden tested positive for the virus on Thursday morning. He has been isolating in the White House residence since then. Administration officials have emphasized that his symptoms are mild because he has received four vaccine doses, and he started taking the antiviral drug&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-pfizer-medication-f5f65e7e61d6aa9c7dfa193053e8878a">Paxlovid</a>&nbsp;after becoming infected.

During a virtual meeting with economic advisers on Friday, Biden was hoarse but insisted, “I feel much better than I sound.”

In his previous update on Biden’s health, O’Connor said the president had an elevated temperature of 99.4 F on Thursday evening, but it returned to normal after taking Tylenol.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden likely contracted a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-united-states-pandemics-72462053f8d60fd548cf34377864100b">highly contagious variant</a>&nbsp;of the coronavirus spreading rapidly through the United States, and now has body aches and a sore throat since his&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/boris-johnson-biden-covid-health-government-and-politics-fec6b4a56384b1f2bf7582aecb46aa36">positive test</a>, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Update-7.23.pdf">an update from his doctor</a>&nbsp;on Saturday.The variant, known as BA.5, is&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-health-rochelle-walensky-centers-for-disease-control-and-prevention-government-politics-0bd2ccf19f1c27379f312b9edf5f3634">an offshoot of the omicron strain</a>&nbsp;that emerged late last year, and it's believed to be responsible for the vast majority of coronavirus cases in the country.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658606557016.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the president’s physician, wrote in his latest update on Biden's condition that Biden's earlier symptoms, including a runny nose and a cough, have become “less troublesome.” O'Connor's earlier notes did not mention the sore throat or body aches.Biden's vital signs, such as blood pressure and respiratory rate, “remain entirely normal,” and his oxygen saturation levels are “excellent” with “no shortness of breath at all," the doctor wrote.O'Connor said the results of the preliminary sequencing that indicated the BA.5 variant do not affect Biden's treatment plan “in any way.”Biden tested positive for the virus on Thursday morning. He has been isolating in the White House residence since then. Administration officials have emphasized that his symptoms are mild because he has received four vaccine doses, and he started taking the antiviral drug&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-pfizer-medication-f5f65e7e61d6aa9c7dfa193053e8878a">Paxlovid</a>&nbsp;after becoming infected.During a virtual meeting with economic advisers on Friday, Biden was hoarse but insisted, “I feel much better than I sound.”In his previous update on Biden’s health, O’Connor said the president had an elevated temperature of 99.4 F on Thursday evening, but it returned to normal after taking Tylenol.

Biden's doctor: President has highly contagious COVID strain

By PAUL HAMMEL <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/ricketts-sees-nothing-in-jan-6-hearings-to-trigger-criminal-charges-against-trump/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN — Gov. Pete Ricketts said
 Friday he doesn’t think that former President Donald Trump should be 
criminally charged in connection with his role in the Jan. 6 attack on 
the U.S. Capitol.

“I don’t think there’s any evidence to charge President Trump with 
any crimes,” the governor said, in response to a question after a press 
conference Friday.

Ricketts, a Republican who has had some differences with the former 
president, said he caught “a little” of the congressional hearing 
Thursday night by the Select House Committee on the Jan. 6 attack but 
didn’t watch the entire three-hour event.

Previously, the governor <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/06/29/ricketts-calls-jan-6-hearings-a-partisan-rehash-of-mostly-old-information/">has called the Jan. 6 probe</a> a “partisan rehash of mostly old information.”

Thursday’s night hearing focused on what Trump did and didn’t do, as a
 mob ransacked the Capitol after he had urged them to march on the 
building and “fight like hell” or “you’re not going to have a country 
anymore.”

Some committee members said Thursday that Trump had violated his oath
 of office to defend the Constitution by not quickly calling off the 
rioters, who were seeking to disrupt the certification of the results of
 the 2020 election, which was won by Democrat Joe Biden.

It was more than three hours after the attack began that Trump asked 
rioters to go home, despite being urged earlier by members of Congress, 
his staff and family members to intervene.

On Friday, one member of the Jan. 6 committee, U.S. Rep. Adam 
Kinzinger, R-Ill., told The Hill that the committee’s hearings had 
“proven different components of a criminal case” against former 
President Trump.

Ricketts, when asked Friday if what Trump did prior and during the 
Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol “was appropriate,” gave the following 
answer:

“I believe everybody who went into the Capitol building intent on 
doing violence did so of their own accord,” the governor said. “We have a
 system of laws that holds people accountable for their actions.”

Does Ricketts think what the president did was appropriate?

“In hindsight, we can always look back and see if we would have done 
things differently,” Ricketts said. “But everyone who participated in 
those attacks did so of their own free will.”

That, he said, is the same for those who participated in riots in May
 2020 following the police custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Ricketts said he didn’t think that organizations behind those riots in places like Omaha were being held accountable.

“I don’t think anyone’s trying to hold them accountable,” he said. “Why? Because we hold individuals accountable.”

During the year’s GOP primary, Trump backed Falls City businessman 
Charles Herbster, despite being urged by Ricketts to not endorse in the 
race. Ricketts backed University of Nebraska Regent Jim Pillen, who won 
the primary.

During the 2016 Republican presidential primary, Ricketts’ parents, 
Joe and Marlene, gave $5.5 million to a super PAC aiming to block 
Trump’s. But once it became clear he would be the nominee, the Ricketts 
family gave their support.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658601763338.png" alt="Gov. Pete Ricketts speaking Thursday at the dedication of a state office building in honor of Chief Standing Bear. Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner " />
 <figcaption>Gov. Pete Ricketts speaking Thursday at the dedication of a state office building in honor of Chief Standing Bear. Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner </figcaption>
 </figure>By PAUL HAMMEL <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/ricketts-sees-nothing-in-jan-6-hearings-to-trigger-criminal-charges-against-trump/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN — Gov. Pete Ricketts said
 Friday he doesn’t think that former President Donald Trump should be 
criminally charged in connection with his role in the Jan. 6 attack on 
the U.S. Capitol.“I don’t think there’s any evidence to charge President Trump with 
any crimes,” the governor said, in response to a question after a press 
conference Friday.Ricketts, a Republican who has had some differences with the former 
president, said he caught “a little” of the congressional hearing 
Thursday night by the Select House Committee on the Jan. 6 attack but 
didn’t watch the entire three-hour event.<h2>Personal responsibility</h2>Previously, the governor <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/06/29/ricketts-calls-jan-6-hearings-a-partisan-rehash-of-mostly-old-information/">has called the Jan. 6 probe</a> a “partisan rehash of mostly old information.”Thursday’s night hearing focused on what Trump did and didn’t do, as a
 mob ransacked the Capitol after he had urged them to march on the 
building and “fight like hell” or “you’re not going to have a country 
anymore.”Some committee members said Thursday that Trump had violated his oath
 of office to defend the Constitution by not quickly calling off the 
rioters, who were seeking to disrupt the certification of the results of
 the 2020 election, which was won by Democrat Joe Biden.It was more than three hours after the attack began that Trump asked 
rioters to go home, despite being urged earlier by members of Congress, 
his staff and family members to intervene.On Friday, one member of the Jan. 6 committee, U.S. Rep. Adam 
Kinzinger, R-Ill., told The Hill that the committee’s hearings had 
“proven different components of a criminal case” against former 
President Trump.<h2>A ‘system of laws’</h2>Ricketts, when asked Friday if what Trump did prior and during the 
Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol “was appropriate,” gave the following 
answer:“I believe everybody who went into the Capitol building intent on 
doing violence did so of their own accord,” the governor said. “We have a
 system of laws that holds people accountable for their actions.”Does Ricketts think what the president did was appropriate?“In hindsight, we can always look back and see if we would have done 
things differently,” Ricketts said. “But everyone who participated in 
those attacks did so of their own free will.”That, he said, is the same for those who participated in riots in May
 2020 following the police custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.Ricketts said he didn’t think that organizations behind those riots in places like Omaha were being held accountable.“I don’t think anyone’s trying to hold them accountable,” he said. “Why? Because we hold individuals accountable.”During the year’s GOP primary, Trump backed Falls City businessman 
Charles Herbster, despite being urged by Ricketts to not endorse in the 
race. Ricketts backed University of Nebraska Regent Jim Pillen, who won 
the primary.During the 2016 Republican presidential primary, Ricketts’ parents, 
Joe and Marlene, gave $5.5 million to a super PAC aiming to block 
Trump’s. But once it became clear he would be the nominee, the Ricketts 
family gave their support.

Ricketts: Nothing in 1/6 hearings to trigger Trump criminal charges

WASHINGTON – President signed into law H.R. 8351, the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/117/bills/hr8351/BILLS-117hr8351eh.pdf">“Formula Act</a>."&nbsp; The bipartisan bill that will help increase access to baby formula&nbsp; across the country, according to a statement from the White House.

The United States Senate unanimously passed <a href="https://www.congress.gov/117/bills/hr8351/BILLS-117hr8351eh.pdf">the bill</a>&nbsp; which removes import tariffs on baby formula and baby formula input products until the end of this year.&nbsp; The House of Representatives had previously modified and passed the bill July 15, resulting in Senate reconsideration.&nbsp;

Upon passage, the bills author Utah&nbsp;Senator. Lee said, “The FORMULA Act will be an incredible win for families and hungry babies nationwide."

"It will make meaningful headway that is desperately needed today. By suspending the tariff on formula imports, we are providing cheaper access to formulas to individual consumers and retailers alike.” Lee continued."&nbsp;

"This relief has been long overdue, particularly for Utahns, who have the largest families, the most children per capita, and the highest birth rate in the nation.”

The President thanked Senators Lee, Wyden, and Crapo, and Representatives Blumenauer, DelBene, Larsen, Kildee, Neal, and Brady. &nbsp;&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658501001435.png" alt="Despite a positive COVID test, President Biden signed the bill immediately-photo White House" />
 <figcaption>Despite a positive COVID test, President Biden signed the bill immediately-photo White House</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON – President signed into law H.R. 8351, the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/117/bills/hr8351/BILLS-117hr8351eh.pdf">“Formula Act</a>."&nbsp; The bipartisan bill that will help increase access to baby formula&nbsp; across the country, according to a statement from the White House.The United States Senate unanimously passed <a href="https://www.congress.gov/117/bills/hr8351/BILLS-117hr8351eh.pdf">the bill</a>&nbsp; which removes import tariffs on baby formula and baby formula input products until the end of this year.&nbsp; The House of Representatives had previously modified and passed the bill July 15, resulting in Senate reconsideration.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658593825391.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Upon passage, the bills author Utah&nbsp;Senator. Lee said, “The FORMULA Act will be an incredible win for families and hungry babies nationwide.""It will make meaningful headway that is desperately needed today. By suspending the tariff on formula imports, we are providing cheaper access to formulas to individual consumers and retailers alike.” Lee continued."&nbsp;"This relief has been long overdue, particularly for Utahns, who have the largest families, the most children per capita, and the highest birth rate in the nation.”The President thanked Senators Lee, Wyden, and Crapo, and Representatives Blumenauer, DelBene, Larsen, Kildee, Neal, and Brady. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Biden signs baby formula act after unanimous Senate vote 

LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization said the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/science-health-096f3625c4c14a18e2d5f813241d83bf">expanding monkeypox outbreak</a>&nbsp;in more than 70 countries is an “extraordinary” situation that now qualifies as a global emergency, a declaration Saturday that could spur further investment in treating the once-rare disease and worsen the scramble for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-animals-primates-european-union-853ed8fa9967823f7b24570d1e5b9a0e">scarce vaccines</a>.

<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/response/2022/us-map.html">Click here for additional details</a> on monkeypox cases in the U.S.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the decision to issue the declaration despite a lack of consensus among members of WHO's emergency committee. It was the first time the chief of the U.N. health agency has taken such an action.

“In short, we have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly through new modes of transmission about which we understand too little and which meets the criteria in the international health regulations,” Tedros said.

“I know this has not been an easy or straightforward process and that there are divergent views among the members" of the committee, he added.

Although monkeypox has been established in parts of central and west Africa for decades, it was not known to spark large outbreaks beyond the continent or to spread widely among people until May, when authorities detected dozens of epidemics in Europe, North America and elsewhere.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-health-united-nations-epidemics-north-america-c5284aabf79d9ecb816975dc249abffd">Declaring a global emergency</a>&nbsp;means the monkeypox outbreak is an “extraordinary event” that could spill over into more countries and requires a coordinated global response. WHO previously declared emergencies for public health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2014 West African Ebola outbreak, the Zika virus in Latin America in 2016 and the ongoing effort to eradicate polio.

The emergency declaration mostly serves as a plea to draw more global resources and attention to an outbreak. Past announcements had mixed impact, given that the U.N. health agency is largely powerless in getting countries to act.

Last month, WHO’s expert committee said the worldwide monkeypox outbreak did not yet amount to an international emergency, but the panel convened this week to reevaluate the situation.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 16,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported in 74 countries since about May. To date, monkeypox deaths have only been reported in Africa, where a more dangerous version of the virus is spreading, mainly in Nigeria and Congo.

In Africa, monkeypox mainly spreads to people from infected wild animals like rodents, in limited outbreaks that typically have not crossed borders. In Europe, North America and elsewhere, however, monkeypox is spreading among people with no links to animals or recent travel to Africa.

WHO’s top monkeypox expert, Dr. Rosamund Lewis, said this week that 99% of all the monkeypox cases beyond Africa were in men and that of those, 98% involved men who have sex with men. Experts suspect the monkeypox outbreaks in Europe and North America were spread via sex at two raves in Belgium and Spain.

Michael Head, a senior research fellow in global health at Southampton University, said it was surprising WHO hadn’t already declared monkeypox a global emergency, explaining that the conditions were arguably met weeks ago.

Some experts have questioned whether such a declaration would help, arguing the disease isn’t severe enough to warrant the attention and that rich countries battling monkeypox already have the funds to do so; most people recover without needing medical attention, although the lesions may be painful.

“I think it would be better to be proactive and overreact to the problem instead of waiting to react when it’s too late," Head said. He added that WHO’s emergency declaration could help donors like the World Bank make funds available to stop the outbreaks both in the West and in Africa, where animals are the likely natural reservoir of monkeypox.

In the U.S., some experts have speculated whether monkeypox might be on the verge of becoming an&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/monkeypox-the-next-std-3266fd0ae451578c989605f430cd3897">entrenched sexually transmitted disease</a>&nbsp;in the country, like gonorrhea, herpes and HIV.

“The bottom line is we’ve seen a shift in the epidemiology of monkeypox where there’s now widespread, unexpected transmission,” said Dr. Albert Ko, a professor of public health and epidemiology at Yale University. “There are some genetic mutations in the virus that suggest why that may be happening, but we do need a globally-coordinated response to get it under control,” he said.

Ko called for testing to be immediately scaled up rapidly, saying that similar to the early days of COVID-19, that there were significant gaps in surveillance.

“The cases we are seeing are just the tip of the iceberg,” he said. “The window has probably closed for us to quickly stop the outbreaks in Europe and the U.S., but it’s not too late to stop monkeypox from causing huge damage to poorer countries without the resources to handle it.”

In the U.S., some experts have speculated that monkeypox might become entrenched there as the newest sexually transmitted disease, with officials estimating that 1.5 million men are at high risk of being infected.

Dr. Placide Mbala, a virologist who directs the global health department at Congo’s Institute of National Biomedical Research, said he hoped any global efforts to stop monkeypox would be equitable. Although countries including Britain, Canada, Germany and the U.S. have ordered millions of vaccine doses, none have gone to Africa.

“The solution needs to be global,” Mbala said, adding that any vaccines sent to Africa would be used to target those at highest risk, like hunters in rural areas.

“Vaccination in the West might help stop the outbreak there, but there will still be cases in Africa,” he said. “Unless the problem is solved here, the risk to the rest of the world will remain.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658586348383.png" alt="CDC image July 22, 2022- Total confirmed monkeypox/orthopoxvirus cases: 2,891" />
 <figcaption>CDC image July 22, 2022- Total confirmed monkeypox/orthopoxvirus cases: 2,891</figcaption>
 </figure>LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization said the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/science-health-096f3625c4c14a18e2d5f813241d83bf">expanding monkeypox outbreak</a>&nbsp;in more than 70 countries is an “extraordinary” situation that now qualifies as a global emergency, a declaration Saturday that could spur further investment in treating the once-rare disease and worsen the scramble for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-animals-primates-european-union-853ed8fa9967823f7b24570d1e5b9a0e">scarce vaccines</a>.<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/response/2022/us-map.html">Click here for additional details</a> on monkeypox cases in the U.S.WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the decision to issue the declaration despite a lack of consensus among members of WHO's emergency committee. It was the first time the chief of the U.N. health agency has taken such an action.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">🚨 BREAKING: &quot;For all of these reasons, I have decided that the global <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/monkeypox?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#monkeypox</a> outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern.&quot;-<a href="https://twitter.com/DrTedros?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DrTedros</a> <a href="https://t.co/qvmYX1ZBAL">pic.twitter.com/qvmYX1ZBAL</a>&mdash; World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) <a href="https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1550847224963371010?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 23, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>“In short, we have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly through new modes of transmission about which we understand too little and which meets the criteria in the international health regulations,” Tedros said.“I know this has not been an easy or straightforward process and that there are divergent views among the members" of the committee, he added.Although monkeypox has been established in parts of central and west Africa for decades, it was not known to spark large outbreaks beyond the continent or to spread widely among people until May, when authorities detected dozens of epidemics in Europe, North America and elsewhere.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-health-united-nations-epidemics-north-america-c5284aabf79d9ecb816975dc249abffd">Declaring a global emergency</a>&nbsp;means the monkeypox outbreak is an “extraordinary event” that could spill over into more countries and requires a coordinated global response. WHO previously declared emergencies for public health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2014 West African Ebola outbreak, the Zika virus in Latin America in 2016 and the ongoing effort to eradicate polio.The emergency declaration mostly serves as a plea to draw more global resources and attention to an outbreak. Past announcements had mixed impact, given that the U.N. health agency is largely powerless in getting countries to act.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/6/1655678482994.png" alt="Monkeypox Photo Credit: NHS England High Consequence Infectious Diseases Network-CDC" />
 <figcaption>Monkeypox Photo Credit: NHS England High Consequence Infectious Diseases Network-CDC</figcaption>
 </figure>Last month, WHO’s expert committee said the worldwide monkeypox outbreak did not yet amount to an international emergency, but the panel convened this week to reevaluate the situation.According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 16,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported in 74 countries since about May. To date, monkeypox deaths have only been reported in Africa, where a more dangerous version of the virus is spreading, mainly in Nigeria and Congo.In Africa, monkeypox mainly spreads to people from infected wild animals like rodents, in limited outbreaks that typically have not crossed borders. In Europe, North America and elsewhere, however, monkeypox is spreading among people with no links to animals or recent travel to Africa.WHO’s top monkeypox expert, Dr. Rosamund Lewis, said this week that 99% of all the monkeypox cases beyond Africa were in men and that of those, 98% involved men who have sex with men. Experts suspect the monkeypox outbreaks in Europe and North America were spread via sex at two raves in Belgium and Spain.Michael Head, a senior research fellow in global health at Southampton University, said it was surprising WHO hadn’t already declared monkeypox a global emergency, explaining that the conditions were arguably met weeks ago.Some experts have questioned whether such a declaration would help, arguing the disease isn’t severe enough to warrant the attention and that rich countries battling monkeypox already have the funds to do so; most people recover without needing medical attention, although the lesions may be painful.“I think it would be better to be proactive and overreact to the problem instead of waiting to react when it’s too late," Head said. He added that WHO’s emergency declaration could help donors like the World Bank make funds available to stop the outbreaks both in the West and in Africa, where animals are the likely natural reservoir of monkeypox.In the U.S., some experts have speculated whether monkeypox might be on the verge of becoming an&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/monkeypox-the-next-std-3266fd0ae451578c989605f430cd3897">entrenched sexually transmitted disease</a>&nbsp;in the country, like gonorrhea, herpes and HIV.“The bottom line is we’ve seen a shift in the epidemiology of monkeypox where there’s now widespread, unexpected transmission,” said Dr. Albert Ko, a professor of public health and epidemiology at Yale University. “There are some genetic mutations in the virus that suggest why that may be happening, but we do need a globally-coordinated response to get it under control,” he said.Ko called for testing to be immediately scaled up rapidly, saying that similar to the early days of COVID-19, that there were significant gaps in surveillance.“The cases we are seeing are just the tip of the iceberg,” he said. “The window has probably closed for us to quickly stop the outbreaks in Europe and the U.S., but it’s not too late to stop monkeypox from causing huge damage to poorer countries without the resources to handle it.”In the U.S., some experts have speculated that monkeypox might become entrenched there as the newest sexually transmitted disease, with officials estimating that 1.5 million men are at high risk of being infected.Dr. Placide Mbala, a virologist who directs the global health department at Congo’s Institute of National Biomedical Research, said he hoped any global efforts to stop monkeypox would be equitable. Although countries including Britain, Canada, Germany and the U.S. have ordered millions of vaccine doses, none have gone to Africa.“The solution needs to be global,” Mbala said, adding that any vaccines sent to Africa would be used to target those at highest risk, like hunters in rural areas.“Vaccination in the West might help stop the outbreak there, but there will still be cases in Africa,” he said. “Unless the problem is solved here, the risk to the rest of the world will remain.”

WHO: Monkeypox a global emergency

WASHINGTON —Family Dollar is initiating a voluntary retail level product recall of certain products regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that were stored and inadvertently shipped to certain stores on or around May 1, 2022 through June 10, 2022 due to product being stored outside of labeled temperature requirements, according to a media release from the agency.

To date, Family Dollar has not received any consumer complaints or reports of illness related to this recall.

Family Dollar has notified its affected stores asking them to check their stock immediately and to quarantine and discontinue the sale of any affected product. Customers that may have bought affected product may return such product to the Family Dollar store where they were purchased without receipt.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/160146/download">Click here to</a> see the 11-page list of recalled products.

Customers with questions regarding this recall may contact Family Dollar Customer Service at 844-636-7687 between 9am and 5pm EST. Customers should contact their physician or health care provider if they have experienced any problems that may be related to using these products.

Adverse reactions or quality problems experienced with the use of this product may be reported to the FDA's MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program either online, by regular mail or by fax.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658512118386.png" alt="Google image" />
 <figcaption>Google image</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON —Family Dollar is initiating a voluntary retail level product recall of certain products regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that were stored and inadvertently shipped to certain stores on or around May 1, 2022 through June 10, 2022 due to product being stored outside of labeled temperature requirements, according to a media release from the agency.To date, Family Dollar has not received any consumer complaints or reports of illness related to this recall.Family Dollar has notified its affected stores asking them to check their stock immediately and to quarantine and discontinue the sale of any affected product. Customers that may have bought affected product may return such product to the Family Dollar store where they were purchased without receipt.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/160146/download">Click here to</a> see the 11-page list of recalled products.Customers with questions regarding this recall may contact Family Dollar Customer Service at 844-636-7687 between 9am and 5pm EST. Customers should contact their physician or health care provider if they have experienced any problems that may be related to using these products.Adverse reactions or quality problems experienced with the use of this product may be reported to the FDA's MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program either online, by regular mail or by fax.<ul>
 <li>Complete and submit the report&nbsp;Online:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fda.gov/safety/medwatch-fda-safety-information-and-adverse-event-reporting-program/reporting-serious-problems-fda">www.fda.gov/medwatch/report.htm</a></li><li>Regular Mail or Fax:&nbsp;Download form&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fda.gov/safety/medical-product-safety-information/medwatch-forms-fda-safety-reporting">www.fda.gov/MedWatch/getforms.htm</a>&nbsp;or call 1-800-332-1088 to request a reporting form, then complete and return to the address on the pre-addressed form, or submit by fax to 1-800-FDA-0178</li><li><a href="https://www.fda.gov/safety/report-problem-fda">https://www.fda.gov/safety/report-problem-fda</a></li>
 </ul>

FDA: Family Dollar recalling hundreds of over-the-counter products

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House announced Friday that the U.S. is sending an additional $270 million in security assistance to Ukraine,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-army-lloyd-austin-government-and-politics-8083b97c8f6cf237538c22e67c3f7aaa">a package</a>&nbsp;that will include additional medium range rocket systems and tactical drones.

The latest tranche brings the total U.S. security assistance committed to Ukraine by the Biden administration to $8.2 billion, and is being paid for through&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-seoul-asia-31f17af1605313f6f563d405052e3de7">$40 billion in economic and security aid f</a>&nbsp;or Ukraine approved. by Congress in May.

The new package includes four&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-zelenskyy-nato-sergey-lavrov-dd7bc9324e465a15209940c146a859b3">High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS</a>&nbsp;and will allow Kyiv to acquire up to 580&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-biden-announces-new-military-aid-e78a7db76215a84f86586bb56122cd04">Phoenix Ghost drones</a>, both crucial weapon systems that have allowed the Ukrainians to stay in the fight despite Russian artillery supremacy, according to John Kirby, the White House National Security Council’s coordinator for strategic communications. The latest assistance also includes some 36,000 rounds of artillery ammunition and additional ammunition for the HIMARS.

“The president has been clear that we’re going to continue to support the government of Ukraine and its people for as long as it takes,” Kirby said.

Ukrainian forces have used U.S.-made rocket launchers and tactical drones to destroy dozens of Russian targets and hold at bay Russia’s larger and more heavily equipped forces.

Russia can fire far more ammunition but has sustained huge losses of troops and equipment as Ukrainian forces have been equipped with precision weaponry from the U.S. and other Western allies. CIA Director William Burns on Wednesday said the U.S. estimates roughly 15,000 Russian forces have been killed. That death toll would be equivalent to the Soviet Union's military losses in its 1980s war in Afghanistan, which lasted nearly a decade.

To try to equalize the conflict, Ukraine has made ample use of Western-supplied technologies as it defends its eastern lines.

Ukraine has long sought more HIMARS launchers, which fire medium-range rockets and also can be quickly moved before Russia can target them. On Wednesday, Ukrainian forces reportedly used a HIMARS to hit a strategic bridge in the Russia-occupied southern region of Kherson. One military expert told The Associated Press that the systems have “hardly had any rest during the day or at night.”

U.S. authorities also are providing Ukraine with more guided rockets known as GMLRS. The Pentagon continues to rule out sending longer-range rockets that Ukraine could potentially use to strike deep into Russian territory. That's a nod to the U.S. trying to manage the risk of Russia instigating a broader war.

The U.S. has already sent 12 truck-mounted HIMARS to Ukraine. The United Kingdom has also provided three launchers of a different kind with GMLRS rockets as well.

Both sides in the war have made ample use of drones. The U.S. had previously committed to sending 121 Phoenix Ghosts to Ukraine. Pentagon officials have not fully disclosed the capabilities of those drones, which were developed by the U.S. Air Force and produced by Aevex Aerospace, which describes itself as a leader in “full-spectrum airborne intelligence solutions.” The drones have onboard cameras and can be used to attack targets.

The U.S. disclosed earlier this month that it believes Russia is planning to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/white-house-says-russian-officials-visited-iran-for-drones-ef42c30747220d3e499f9c8b116fefa6">obtain several hundred drones from Iran</a>. Iranian drones have previously penetrated Saudi and Emirati air defense systems in the Middle East that were supplied by the U.S. Biden administration officials have tried to publicly discourage Iran from moving forward with the transfer.

The White House released satellite imagery that indicates Russian officials twice visited Iran in June or July for a showcase of weapons-capable drones it is looking to acquire.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House announced Friday that the U.S. is sending an additional $270 million in security assistance to Ukraine,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-army-lloyd-austin-government-and-politics-8083b97c8f6cf237538c22e67c3f7aaa">a package</a>&nbsp;that will include additional medium range rocket systems and tactical drones.The latest tranche brings the total U.S. security assistance committed to Ukraine by the Biden administration to $8.2 billion, and is being paid for through&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-seoul-asia-31f17af1605313f6f563d405052e3de7">$40 billion in economic and security aid f</a>&nbsp;or Ukraine approved. by Congress in May.The new package includes four&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-zelenskyy-nato-sergey-lavrov-dd7bc9324e465a15209940c146a859b3">High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS</a>&nbsp;and will allow Kyiv to acquire up to 580&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-biden-announces-new-military-aid-e78a7db76215a84f86586bb56122cd04">Phoenix Ghost drones</a>, both crucial weapon systems that have allowed the Ukrainians to stay in the fight despite Russian artillery supremacy, according to John Kirby, the White House National Security Council’s coordinator for strategic communications. The latest assistance also includes some 36,000 rounds of artillery ammunition and additional ammunition for the HIMARS.“The president has been clear that we’re going to continue to support the government of Ukraine and its people for as long as it takes,” Kirby said.Ukrainian forces have used U.S.-made rocket launchers and tactical drones to destroy dozens of Russian targets and hold at bay Russia’s larger and more heavily equipped forces.Russia can fire far more ammunition but has sustained huge losses of troops and equipment as Ukrainian forces have been equipped with precision weaponry from the U.S. and other Western allies. CIA Director William Burns on Wednesday said the U.S. estimates roughly 15,000 Russian forces have been killed. That death toll would be equivalent to the Soviet Union's military losses in its 1980s war in Afghanistan, which lasted nearly a decade.To try to equalize the conflict, Ukraine has made ample use of Western-supplied technologies as it defends its eastern lines.Ukraine has long sought more HIMARS launchers, which fire medium-range rockets and also can be quickly moved before Russia can target them. On Wednesday, Ukrainian forces reportedly used a HIMARS to hit a strategic bridge in the Russia-occupied southern region of Kherson. One military expert told The Associated Press that the systems have “hardly had any rest during the day or at night.”U.S. authorities also are providing Ukraine with more guided rockets known as GMLRS. The Pentagon continues to rule out sending longer-range rockets that Ukraine could potentially use to strike deep into Russian territory. That's a nod to the U.S. trying to manage the risk of Russia instigating a broader war.The U.S. has already sent 12 truck-mounted HIMARS to Ukraine. The United Kingdom has also provided three launchers of a different kind with GMLRS rockets as well.Both sides in the war have made ample use of drones. The U.S. had previously committed to sending 121 Phoenix Ghosts to Ukraine. Pentagon officials have not fully disclosed the capabilities of those drones, which were developed by the U.S. Air Force and produced by Aevex Aerospace, which describes itself as a leader in “full-spectrum airborne intelligence solutions.” The drones have onboard cameras and can be used to attack targets.The U.S. disclosed earlier this month that it believes Russia is planning to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/white-house-says-russian-officials-visited-iran-for-drones-ef42c30747220d3e499f9c8b116fefa6">obtain several hundred drones from Iran</a>. Iranian drones have previously penetrated Saudi and Emirati air defense systems in the Middle East that were supplied by the U.S. Biden administration officials have tried to publicly discourage Iran from moving forward with the transfer.The White House released satellite imagery that indicates Russian officials twice visited Iran in June or July for a showcase of weapons-capable drones it is looking to acquire.

White House spending another $270M for Ukraine military

By PETER KRAPP <a href="https://theconversation.com/surveillance-is-pervasive-yes-you-are-being-watched-even-if-no-one-is-looking-for-you-187139">The Conversation</a>

The U.S. has the <a href="https://www.techspot.com/news/83061-report-finds-us-has-largest-number-surveillance-cameras.html">largest number of surveillance cameras per person</a> in the world. Cameras are omnipresent on city streets and in hotels, restaurants, malls and offices. They’re also used to <a href="https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/united-states-video-surveillance-market">screen passengers</a> for the Transportation Security Administration. And then there are <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/23207072/amazon-ring-privacy-police-footage">smart doorbells</a> and other home security cameras.

Most Americans are aware of video surveillance of public spaces. Likewise, most people know about online tracking – and <a href="https://morningconsult.com/2021/04/27/state-privacy-congress-priority-poll/">want Congress to do something about it</a>. But as a researcher who <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&amp;user=tMOMmqsAAAAJ&amp;view_op=list_works&amp;sortby=pubdate">studies digital culture and secret communications</a>,
 I believe that to understand how pervasive surveillance is, it’s 
important to recognize how physical and digital tracking work together.

Databases can correlate <a href="https://theconversation.com/impending-demise-of-roe-v-wade-puts-a-spotlight-on-a-major-privacy-risk-your-phone-reveals-more-about-you-than-you-think-182504">location data from smartphones</a>, the growing number of private cameras, <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/license-plate-reader-alpr-surveillance-abortion/">license plate readers</a> on police cruisers and toll roads, and <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/9/21002515/surveillance-cameras-globally-us-china-amount-citizens">facial recognition technology</a>, so if law enforcement wants to track where you are and where you’ve been, they can. They need a warrant to use <a href="https://www.upturn.org/work/mass-extraction/">cellphone search</a> equipment: Connecting your device to a <a href="https://csrc.nist.gov/Projects/Mobile-Security-and-Forensics/Mobile-Forensics">mobile device forensic tool</a> lets them extract and <a href="https://www.forensicmag.com/518341-Digital-Forensics-Window-Into-the-Soul/">analyze all your data</a> <a href="https://casetext.com/case/people-v-riley-263">if they have a warrant</a>.

However, private <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/opinion-data-brokers-know-where-you-are-and-want-to-sell-that-intel/">data brokers</a> also track this kind of data and <a href="https://issues.org/data-brokers-police-surveillance/">help surveil citizens</a>
 – without a warrant. There is a large market for personal data, 
compiled from information people volunteer, information people 
unwittingly yield – for example, <a href="https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/how-to-control-which-apps-access-your-location-on-ios-and-android/">via mobile apps</a> – and information that is stolen in data breaches. Among the customers for this largely unregulated data are <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22565926/police-law-enforcement-data-warrant">federal, state and local law enforcement agencies</a>.

Whether or not you pass under the gaze of a surveillance camera or 
license plate reader, you are tracked by your mobile phone. GPS tells 
weather apps or maps your location, Wi-Fi uses your location, and <a href="https://cyberforensics.com/services/cellular-triangulation/">cell-tower triangulation</a> tracks your phone. <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/955287">Bluetooth</a>
 can identify and track your smartphone, and not just for COVID-19 
contact tracing, Apple’s “Find My” service, or to connect headphones.

People volunteer their locations for <a href="https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-privacy-ridesharing-privacy-ride.html">ride-sharing</a> or for games like <a href="https://www.pokemon.com/us/app/pokemon-go/">Pokemon Go</a> or <a href="https://www.ingress.com">Ingress</a>, but apps can also <a href="https://research.checkpoint.com/2021/mobile-app-developers-misconfiguration-of-third-party-services-leave-personal-data-of-over-100-million-exposed/">collect and share location</a> without your knowledge. Many late-model cars feature telematics that track locations – for example, <a href="https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/a7469/your-car-is-spying-on-you-but-whom-is-it-spying-for/">OnStar or Bluelink</a>. All this makes opting out impractical.

The same thing is true online. Most websites feature <a href="https://themarkup.org/blacklight">ad trackers and third-party cookies</a>,
 which are stored in your browser whenever you visit a site. They 
identify you when you visit other sites so advertisers can follow you 
around. Some websites also use <a href="https://www.malwarebytes.com/keylogger">key logging</a>,
 which monitors what you type into a page before hitting submit. 
Similarly, session recording monitors mouse movements, clicks, scrolling
 and typing, even if you don’t click “submit.”

Ad trackers know when you browsed where, which browser you used, and what your device’s internet address is. <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/18/google-data-states-track-abortions-00045906">Google</a> and Facebook are among the main beneficiaries, but there are many <a href="https://privacybee.com/blog/these-are-the-largest-data-brokers-in-america/">data brokers</a> <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-data-brokers-selling-your-personal-information/">slicing and dicing such information</a> by religion, ethnicity, political affiliations, social media profiles, income and medical history for profit.

People may implicitly consent to some loss of privacy in the interest
 of perceived or real security – for example, in stadiums, on the road 
and at airports, or in return for cheaper online services. But these 
trade-offs benefit individuals far less than the companies aggregating 
data. <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-some-americans-dont-trust-the-census-130109">Many Americans</a> are suspicious of government <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/reports/2010/01/20/most-view-census-positively-but-some-have-doubts">censuses</a>, yet they willingly share their jogging routines on apps like <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/28/fitness-tracking-app-gives-away-location-of-secret-us-army-bases">Strava</a>, which has <a href="https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/apps/a15912407/strava-app-military-bases-fitbit-jogging/">revealed</a> sensitive and secret <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/a-map-showing-the-users-of-fitness-devices-lets-the-world-see-where-us-soldiers-are-and-what-they-are-doing/2018/01/28/86915662-0441-11e8-aa61-f3391373867e_story.html">military data</a>.

In the <a href="https://scholarworks.law.ubalt.edu/ublr/vol50/iss1/2/">post-Roe v. Wade legal environment</a>, there are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/19/opinion/privacy-technology-data.html">concerns</a> not only about <a href="https://www.stopspying.org/pregnancy-panopticon">period tracking</a> apps but about <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2022/05/04/data-brokers-selling-location-data-of-americans-who-visit-abortion-clinics/">correlating data</a> on physical movements with online searches and <a href="https://theconversation.com/impending-demise-of-roe-v-wade-puts-a-spotlight-on-a-major-privacy-risk-your-phone-reveals-more-about-you-than-you-think-182504">phone data</a>. Legislation like the recent <a href="https://legiscan.com/TX/bill/SB8/2021">Texas Senate Bill 8</a> anti-abortion law invokes “private individual enforcement mechanisms,” raising questions about who gets <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/18/google-data-states-track-abortions-00045906">access to tracking data</a>.

In 2019, the <a href="https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/2019/10/31/20939890/missouri-abortion-clinic-hearing-periods-roe-wade">Missouri Department of Health</a>
 stored data about the periods of patients at the state’s lone Planned 
Parenthood clinic, correlated with state medical records. Communications
 <a href="https://www.icij.org/inside-icij/2015/05/be-paranoid-how-one-reporter-learned-danger-metadata/">metadata</a> can reveal who you are in touch with, when you were where, and who else was there – whether they are in your contacts or not.

Location data from apps on hundreds of millions of phones lets the <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/18/dhs-location-data-aclu-00046208">Department of Homeland Security</a> track people. Health <a href="https://www.democraticmedia.org/CDD-Wearable-Devices-Big-Data-Report">wearables</a> pose similar risks, and medical experts note a <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31146589/">lack of awareness</a>
 about the security of data they collect. Note the resemblance of your 
Fitbit or smartwatch to ankle bracelets people wear during court-ordered
 monitoring.

The most pervasive user of tracking in the U.S. is Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which <a href="https://americandragnet.org/">amassed a vast amount of information</a> without judicial, legislative or public oversight. Georgetown University Law Center’s Center on Privacy and Technology <a href="https://americandragnet.org/">reported on how ICE searched</a>
 the driver’s license photographs of 32% of all adults in the U.S., 
tracked cars in cities home to 70% of adults, and updated address 
records for 74% of adults when those people activated new utility 
accounts.

Nobody expects to be invisible on streets, at borders, or in shopping
 centers. But who has access to all that surveillance data, and how long
 it is stored? There is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/state-of-privacy-laws-in-us/">no single U.S. privacy law</a>
 at the federal level, and states cope with a regulatory patchwork; only
 five states – California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah and Virginia – <a href="https://www.natlawreview.com/article/state-us-state-privacy-laws-comparison">have privacy laws</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658509184318.jpg" alt="Image courtesy of Pixabay" />
 <figcaption>Image courtesy of Pixabay</figcaption>
 </figure>By PETER KRAPP <a href="https://theconversation.com/surveillance-is-pervasive-yes-you-are-being-watched-even-if-no-one-is-looking-for-you-187139">The Conversation</a>The U.S. has the <a href="https://www.techspot.com/news/83061-report-finds-us-has-largest-number-surveillance-cameras.html">largest number of surveillance cameras per person</a> in the world. Cameras are omnipresent on city streets and in hotels, restaurants, malls and offices. They’re also used to <a href="https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/united-states-video-surveillance-market">screen passengers</a> for the Transportation Security Administration. And then there are <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/23207072/amazon-ring-privacy-police-footage">smart doorbells</a> and other home security cameras. Most Americans are aware of video surveillance of public spaces. Likewise, most people know about online tracking – and <a href="https://morningconsult.com/2021/04/27/state-privacy-congress-priority-poll/">want Congress to do something about it</a>. But as a researcher who <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&amp;user=tMOMmqsAAAAJ&amp;view_op=list_works&amp;sortby=pubdate">studies digital culture and secret communications</a>,
 I believe that to understand how pervasive surveillance is, it’s 
important to recognize how physical and digital tracking work together. Databases can correlate <a href="https://theconversation.com/impending-demise-of-roe-v-wade-puts-a-spotlight-on-a-major-privacy-risk-your-phone-reveals-more-about-you-than-you-think-182504">location data from smartphones</a>, the growing number of private cameras, <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/license-plate-reader-alpr-surveillance-abortion/">license plate readers</a> on police cruisers and toll roads, and <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/9/21002515/surveillance-cameras-globally-us-china-amount-citizens">facial recognition technology</a>, so if law enforcement wants to track where you are and where you’ve been, they can. They need a warrant to use <a href="https://www.upturn.org/work/mass-extraction/">cellphone search</a> equipment: Connecting your device to a <a href="https://csrc.nist.gov/Projects/Mobile-Security-and-Forensics/Mobile-Forensics">mobile device forensic tool</a> lets them extract and <a href="https://www.forensicmag.com/518341-Digital-Forensics-Window-Into-the-Soul/">analyze all your data</a> <a href="https://casetext.com/case/people-v-riley-263">if they have a warrant</a>. However, private <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/opinion-data-brokers-know-where-you-are-and-want-to-sell-that-intel/">data brokers</a> also track this kind of data and <a href="https://issues.org/data-brokers-police-surveillance/">help surveil citizens</a>
 – without a warrant. There is a large market for personal data, 
compiled from information people volunteer, information people 
unwittingly yield – for example, <a href="https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/how-to-control-which-apps-access-your-location-on-ios-and-android/">via mobile apps</a> – and information that is stolen in data breaches. Among the customers for this largely unregulated data are <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22565926/police-law-enforcement-data-warrant">federal, state and local law enforcement agencies</a>.<h2>How you are tracked</h2>Whether or not you pass under the gaze of a surveillance camera or 
license plate reader, you are tracked by your mobile phone. GPS tells 
weather apps or maps your location, Wi-Fi uses your location, and <a href="https://cyberforensics.com/services/cellular-triangulation/">cell-tower triangulation</a> tracks your phone. <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/955287">Bluetooth</a>
 can identify and track your smartphone, and not just for COVID-19 
contact tracing, Apple’s “Find My” service, or to connect headphones.People volunteer their locations for <a href="https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-privacy-ridesharing-privacy-ride.html">ride-sharing</a> or for games like <a href="https://www.pokemon.com/us/app/pokemon-go/">Pokemon Go</a> or <a href="https://www.ingress.com">Ingress</a>, but apps can also <a href="https://research.checkpoint.com/2021/mobile-app-developers-misconfiguration-of-third-party-services-leave-personal-data-of-over-100-million-exposed/">collect and share location</a> without your knowledge. Many late-model cars feature telematics that track locations – for example, <a href="https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/a7469/your-car-is-spying-on-you-but-whom-is-it-spying-for/">OnStar or Bluelink</a>. All this makes opting out impractical.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658509244085.jpg" alt="Image courtesy of Pixabay" />
 <figcaption>Image courtesy of Pixabay</figcaption>
 </figure>The same thing is true online. Most websites feature <a href="https://themarkup.org/blacklight">ad trackers and third-party cookies</a>,
 which are stored in your browser whenever you visit a site. They 
identify you when you visit other sites so advertisers can follow you 
around. Some websites also use <a href="https://www.malwarebytes.com/keylogger">key logging</a>,
 which monitors what you type into a page before hitting submit. 
Similarly, session recording monitors mouse movements, clicks, scrolling
 and typing, even if you don’t click “submit.” Ad trackers know when you browsed where, which browser you used, and what your device’s internet address is. <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/18/google-data-states-track-abortions-00045906">Google</a> and Facebook are among the main beneficiaries, but there are many <a href="https://privacybee.com/blog/these-are-the-largest-data-brokers-in-america/">data brokers</a> <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-data-brokers-selling-your-personal-information/">slicing and dicing such information</a> by religion, ethnicity, political affiliations, social media profiles, income and medical history for profit.<h2>Big Brother in the 21st century</h2>People may implicitly consent to some loss of privacy in the interest
 of perceived or real security – for example, in stadiums, on the road 
and at airports, or in return for cheaper online services. But these 
trade-offs benefit individuals far less than the companies aggregating 
data. <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-some-americans-dont-trust-the-census-130109">Many Americans</a> are suspicious of government <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/reports/2010/01/20/most-view-census-positively-but-some-have-doubts">censuses</a>, yet they willingly share their jogging routines on apps like <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/28/fitness-tracking-app-gives-away-location-of-secret-us-army-bases">Strava</a>, which has <a href="https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/apps/a15912407/strava-app-military-bases-fitbit-jogging/">revealed</a> sensitive and secret <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/a-map-showing-the-users-of-fitness-devices-lets-the-world-see-where-us-soldiers-are-and-what-they-are-doing/2018/01/28/86915662-0441-11e8-aa61-f3391373867e_story.html">military data</a>. In the <a href="https://scholarworks.law.ubalt.edu/ublr/vol50/iss1/2/">post-Roe v. Wade legal environment</a>, there are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/19/opinion/privacy-technology-data.html">concerns</a> not only about <a href="https://www.stopspying.org/pregnancy-panopticon">period tracking</a> apps but about <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2022/05/04/data-brokers-selling-location-data-of-americans-who-visit-abortion-clinics/">correlating data</a> on physical movements with online searches and <a href="https://theconversation.com/impending-demise-of-roe-v-wade-puts-a-spotlight-on-a-major-privacy-risk-your-phone-reveals-more-about-you-than-you-think-182504">phone data</a>. Legislation like the recent <a href="https://legiscan.com/TX/bill/SB8/2021">Texas Senate Bill 8</a> anti-abortion law invokes “private individual enforcement mechanisms,” raising questions about who gets <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/18/google-data-states-track-abortions-00045906">access to tracking data</a>. In 2019, the <a href="https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/2019/10/31/20939890/missouri-abortion-clinic-hearing-periods-roe-wade">Missouri Department of Health</a>
 stored data about the periods of patients at the state’s lone Planned 
Parenthood clinic, correlated with state medical records. Communications
 <a href="https://www.icij.org/inside-icij/2015/05/be-paranoid-how-one-reporter-learned-danger-metadata/">metadata</a> can reveal who you are in touch with, when you were where, and who else was there – whether they are in your contacts or not.Location data from apps on hundreds of millions of phones lets the <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/18/dhs-location-data-aclu-00046208">Department of Homeland Security</a> track people. Health <a href="https://www.democraticmedia.org/CDD-Wearable-Devices-Big-Data-Report">wearables</a> pose similar risks, and medical experts note a <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31146589/">lack of awareness</a>
 about the security of data they collect. Note the resemblance of your 
Fitbit or smartwatch to ankle bracelets people wear during court-ordered
 monitoring.The most pervasive user of tracking in the U.S. is Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which <a href="https://americandragnet.org/">amassed a vast amount of information</a> without judicial, legislative or public oversight. Georgetown University Law Center’s Center on Privacy and Technology <a href="https://americandragnet.org/">reported on how ICE searched</a>
 the driver’s license photographs of 32% of all adults in the U.S., 
tracked cars in cities home to 70% of adults, and updated address 
records for 74% of adults when those people activated new utility 
accounts.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658509302201.jpg" alt="Image courtesy of Pixabay" />
 <figcaption>Image courtesy of Pixabay</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>No one is watching the watchers</h2>Nobody expects to be invisible on streets, at borders, or in shopping
 centers. But who has access to all that surveillance data, and how long
 it is stored? There is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/state-of-privacy-laws-in-us/">no single U.S. privacy law</a>
 at the federal level, and states cope with a regulatory patchwork; only
 five states – California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah and Virginia – <a href="https://www.natlawreview.com/article/state-us-state-privacy-laws-comparison">have privacy laws</a>. It is possible to <a href="https://www.consumerreports.org/privacy/how-to-turn-off-location-services-on-your-smartphone-a8219252827/">limit location tracking</a> on your phone, but not to avoid it completely. Data brokers are supposed to mask your <a href="https://dataprivacymanager.net/what-is-personally-identifiable-information-pii/">personally identifiable data</a> before selling it. But this “<a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2021/11/22/anonymized-data-is-gibberish-term-rampant-location-data-sales-is-still-problem/">anonymization</a>” is meaningless since individuals are easily identified by cross-referencing additional data sets. This makes it easy for <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/panvkz/stalkers-debt-collectors-bounty-hunters-impersonate-cops-phone-location-data">bounty hunters and stalkers</a> to abuse the system. The biggest risk to most people arises when there is a <a href="https://www.tripwire.com/state-of-security/security-data-protection/4-credit-bureau-data-breaches-predate-2017-equifax-hack/">data breach</a>, which is happening more often – whether it is a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ajdellinger/2019/06/07/many-popular-android-apps-leak-sensitive-data-leaving-millions-of-consumers-at-risk/?sh=367a2418521e">leaky app</a> or careless <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/6/23196805/marriott-hotels-maryland-data-breach-credit-cards">hotel chain</a>, a <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2019/11/26/california-makes-50-million-annually-selling-your-dmv-data/">DMV data sale</a> or a compromised <a href="https://www.securityweek.com/massive-credit-bureau-hack-raises-troubling-questions">credit bureau</a>, or indeed a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/22/tech/equifax-hack-ftc/index.html">data brokering</a> middleman whose <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/03/02/cloud-hack-problems/">cloud storage</a> is hacked. This illicit flow of data not only puts <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/06/online-data-brokers/529281/">fuzzy notions</a>
 of privacy in peril, but may put your addresses and passport numbers, 
biometric data and social media profiles, credit card numbers and dating
 profiles, health and insurance information, and more <a href="https://epic.org/issues/consumer-privacy/data-brokers/">on sale</a>.<div><iframe src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187139/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" width="1" height="1"></iframe></div>Peter Krapp is a Professor of Film &amp; Media Studies, University of California, Irvine.