FDA OKs ‘artificial pancreas’ to help manage diabetes

FDA OKs ‘artificial pancreas’ to help manage diabetes

washington

Federal regulators have approved a first-of-a-kind “artificial pancreas,” a device that can help some diabetes patients manage their disease by constantly monitoring their blood sugar and delivering insulin as needed.

The device from Medtronic was approved Wednesday for patients with Type 1 diabetes, the kind usually diagnosed during childhood. About 5 percent of the nation’s 29 million Americans with diabetes have this type.

The new MiniMed 670G consists of a drug pump, a sensor that measures blood sugar and a tube that delivers the insulin. The sensor measures sugar levels every 5 minutes, infusing or withholding insulin as needed. Patients still have to manually increase insulin before meals.

Medtronic said the device will cost between $6,000 and $9,000, similar to its other insulin pumps.

New nursing home standards preserve patients’ right to sue

WASHINGTON

The Obama administration is issuing new nursing home standards that reverse a longstanding industry practice and preserve the rights of patients to sue in cases of abuse or neglect.

Currently, many nursing homes require patients seeking admission to first agree to resolve disputes through binding arbitration, relinquishing the court system.

The industry argued that arbitration – done properly – can keep costs down for all patients by avoiding large jury awards. Consumer advocates and trial lawyers countered that requiring such agreements as a condition of admission coerced vulnerable patients and families into signing away their rights.

Effective Nov. 28, the requirement is part of the first major rewrite of nursing home rules in 25 years.

Officials: US to send more troops to Iraq

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.

The U.S. is sending 615 more troops to Iraq as the stage is set for an Iraqi-led battle to reclaim Mosul, the northern city that has been the Islamic State group’s main stronghold for more than two years. The offensive, starting as soon as October, looms as a decisive moment for Iraq and for President Barack Obama’s much-criticized strategy to defeat IS.

“These forces will be primarily to enable Iraqi security forces and also [Kurdish] Peshmerga in the operations to isolate and collapse ISIL’s control over Mosul, but also to protect and expand Iraqi security forces’ gains elsewhere in Iraq,” Defense Secretary Ash Carter told reporters Wednesday.

Syrian government attacks 2 hospitals

BEIRUT

Government shelling and airstrikes in Syria’s Aleppo landed near a bread distribution center and two hospitals Wednesday, killing seven people and putting at least one of the medical facilities completely out of service, activists and medics said.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon described the conditions in eastern, rebel-held Aleppo as worse than a “slaughterhouse” at a Security Council meeting.

Playboy features woman wearing hijab

Playboy has featured a woman wearing a hijab.

The magazine’s October issue includes an interview with 22-year-old journalist Noor Tagouri, who’s a reporter for online news outlet Newsy. The accompanying photo shows a fully-clothed Tagouri wearing the traditional Muslim head scarf in front of a red, white and blue backdrop. Playboy stopped publishing nude photos this year.

Tagouri says as a Muslim woman, she knows “what it’s like to be misrepresented in the media.”

Associated Press