Mystery Pneumonia Death Sparks Concern; Trader Joe’s Recall; OUD in Young People

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A researcher at Russia’s plague institute laboratory in Siberia died of pneumonia of unknown origin, prompting dozens to be quarantined. (AP)

Christa Pike has remained unconscious and on a ventilator in the days since her botched execution in Tennessee, and her prognosis might not be known for days more. (AP)

Meanwhile, the head of Tennessee’s prison system is resigning after the failed execution. (AP)

A search off the coast of Nantucket found debris from a medical transfer plane with six people on board that disappeared on a flight from Bermuda to Boston. (New York Times)

Potential Escherichia coli contamination has forced an expanded recall to include frozen blueberries and berry blends sold at Trader Joe’s, according to an FDA notice.

Meanwhile, the agency announced the end of a 34-state Salmonella outbreak linked to Mexico-grown jalapeños sold at Chipotle and other places; the outbreak sickened 488 people and sent 65 to the hospital.

FDA said inspectors detected Cyclospora at a Taylor Farms facility in Mexico blamed for the largest-ever U.S. Cyclospora outbreak, which sickened almost 13,000 people before ending in September. (AP)

Shingles cases in young adults dropped steeply for the first cohort eligible for the varicella vaccine in childhood, which rolled out in the mid-1990s, according to a report from Epic Research.

Mumps is running right up the middle of San Diego State University’s college football team, which has at least 14 confirmed cases. (CBS Sports)

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) demanded that the Trump administration finalize a proposal to classify all kratom products as Schedule 1, the same as heroin. (The Hill)

While more Medicaid-enrolled young people with opioid use disorder (OUD) started addiction medications, most didn’t continue treatment, a study in JAMA Network Open indicated.

Michigan doctor Jonathan Decker, MD, was convicted of peddling more than 2 million pills of amphetamine/dextroamphetamine salts (Adderall) and other stimulants on the Done ADHD telehealth platform, according to the Department of Justice.

The NIH says it’s overhauling the websites of its 27 institutes and centers and streamlining their content into a central site.

A legal technicality dropped Larry Nassar, DO, from Michigan’s sex offender registry. (The Guardian)

People on GLP-1 medications may be shrinking restaurants’ bottom lines. (New York Times)

Federal employees’ health insurance premiums will jump an average of 10.9%, the third year in a row of double-digit increases. (Government Executive)