Number of people sickened in E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders rises to 90: CDC
Photo Illustration by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
The number of cases in the E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders has risen to 90, federal health officials said in an update on Wednesday.
Cases have been reported in 13 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Most of the cases have been in Colorado, which has 29 reported cases, and Montana, which has 17 reported cases, according to the CDC.
Cases have also been reported in Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming, according to the CDC, which further notes that illnesses have occurred between Sept. 27 and Oct. 16 of this year.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the first over-the-counter combination COVID-19 and flu test outside of emergency use on Monday evening.
This means the Healgen Rapid Check COVID-19/Flu A&B Antigen Test is available without a prescription. The FDA said the test is for those who are experiencing respiratory symptoms.
While there are other over-the-counter combination tests currently available, this is the first to be marketed to consumers using the traditional approval pathway outside of a public health emergency.
The new combination test uses a nasal swab sample to deliver at-home results for COVID-19 and influenza in approximately 15 minutes.
Healgen’s test detects proteins from both SARS-CoV-2, which is the virus that causes COVID-19, and influenza A and B, which are the viruses that cause flu.
“As we enter this year’s annual flu season with respiratory illnesses such as COVID-19 on many of our minds, our ability to detect these pathogens effectively and efficiently can be impactful on our daily lives,” said Dr. Michelle Tarver, acting director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, in a statement. “Today’s authorization expands the options for individuals with respiratory symptoms to receive information about their health from the comfort of their home.”
“The FDA continues to take actions that support the development and availability of at-home tests for a variety of medical conditions,” the statement continued.
The test is for use by people 14 and older who can take their own sample, or those 2 and older, who have a sample taken by an adult, according to the federal health agency.
Data reviewed by the FDA found the test correctly identified 99% of negative and 92% of positive COVID samples. Additionally, the test correctly identified 99.9% of negative flu samples, and 92.5% and 90.5% of positive flu samples, respectively.
Like other over-the-counter COVID-19 antigen tests, the FDA says a positive test result likely means a patient is positive while a negative rest result may require a confirmation test.
However, people who test negative and continue to experience symptoms including cough, fever and shortness of breath should follow up with their health care provider, the FDA says. Similarity, the FDA says those who test positive should take appropriate precautions to avoid spreading either virus and should also follow up with their health care provider.
(WASHINGTON) — Health care was one of the topics at the forefront of Tuesday night’s debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump said he was interested in replacing the Affordable Care Act — also known as “Obamacare” — but implied that he didn’t have any specific plans in place.
“Obamacare was lousy health care. Always was,” Trump said. “It’s not very good today and, what I said, that if we come up with something, we are working on things, we’re going to do it and we’re going to replace it.”
When asked by ABC News moderator Linsey Davis to clarify if he had a health care plan, the former president said he had “concepts of a plan” to replace the ACA but provided no details.
“If we can come up with a plan that’s going to cost our people, our population, less money and be better health care than Obamacare, then I would absolutely do it,” Trump said.
“But if we come up with something, I would only change it if we come up with something better and less expensive,” he said later in the debate. “And there are concepts and options we have to do that. And you’ll be hearing about it in the not-too-distant future.”
Last year, Trump posted on Truth Social that the ACA “sucks” and that he didn’t want to “terminate” the law but “replace it with much better health care.”
Dr. Dennis Scanlon, a distinguished professor of health policy and administration at Penn State, told ABC News there’s been much less of a focus on repealing and replacing ACA from Trump than seen in 2016 and 2020.
“I think what’s been noticeable in this election cycle [is] less discussion about the Affordable Care Act in terms of let’s repeal it or get rid of it,” he said. “I think last night in the debate, [Trump] basically straddled and said, ‘You know, if I can figure out a way to make it better, and we’re working on some concepts, we’ll do it, but not, that we will get rid of it.’ So I think that’s just different from what it’s been in the last two cycles.”
Scanlon mentioned that repealing the ACA is not even mentioned in the official 2024 Republican Party platform.
In 2010, then-President Barack Obama signed the ACA into law, requiring most Americans to have insurance and directing states to create health insurance exchanges to allow residents to sign up for insurance if they don’t receive coverage via an employer.
During his administration, Trump attempted to partially repeal the ACA by passing the American Health Care Act (ACHA). The plan would have repealed the individual mandate and the employer mandate, amended Medicaid eligibility and weakened protections for patients with pre-existing conditions.
The ACHA passed the House in May 2017 but failed to pass in the Senate. Perhaps mostly infamously, the Senate attempted to pass a so-called “skinny repeal” in late July 2017 but it was rejected, with Republican Sens. John McCain, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski siding with Senate Democrats to kill the bill.
In December 2017, a Republican tax reform law was passed that eliminated individual mandates, which Gallup said may have reduced participation in the insurance marketplace.
At the end of 2019, 13.7% of adults were without health insurance at the end of 2018, the highest level seen since early 2014, according to Gallup data.
In December 2019, Trump issued an executive order requiring all hospitals to make public standard charges, payer-specific negotiated charges, the amount the hospital is willing to accept in cash and the minimum and maximum negotiated charges.
“This an area where an attempt has been made … but the way it has played out has been challenging and not very effective,” Scanlon said, referring to a KFF analysis which found that transparency data was often inconsistent and confusing. “Such transparency is fundamental to reform and improvement in health care markets.”
In a statement to ABC News, Karoline Leavitt, national press secretary for the Trump campaign, restated the former president’s commitment to release details soon.
“As President Trump said, he will release more details but his overall position on health care remains the same: bring down costs and increase the quality of care by improving competition in the market place,” she said. “This is a stark contrast to Kamala Harris’ support for a socialist government takeover of our healthcare system which would force people off their private plans and result in lower quality care.”
During the debate, Harris criticized Trump’s previous attempts to repeal the ACA, saying she wants to grow and expand the legislation. Her campaign platform mentions expanding the $35 cap on insulin and $2,000 cap on out-of-pocket prescription medication costs for seniors to all Americans.
“There’s been a little bit of detail from the Harris campaign, but I would say also not much,” Scanlon said. “There’s some discussion about negotiating drugs, insulin prices, there has been some work done in that … but there’s a lot more to be done.”
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris said former President Donald Trump will roll back health care protections if he wins the presidential election.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday in Madison, Wisconsin, Harris said Trump unsuccessfully tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the landmark law signed by then-President Barack Obama in 2010, while he was president.
“Insurance companies could go back to a time where they would deny you coverage for health insurance based on pre-existing conditions, such being a survivor of breast cancer, asthma, diabetes,” Harris said. “The American people, regardless of who they are voting for, know the importance of Obamacare in terms of expanding coverage to health care, based on the fundamental principle I hold deeply: access to health care should be a right and not just a privilege for those who can afford it.”
“Health care for all Americans is on the line in this election,” Harris continued.
In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump falsely claimed not wanting to end the ACA, even though he repeatedly tried to do so while president.
Here is what we know about Trump’s health care agenda if he is elected to a second term:
‘Concepts’ of a heath care plan
During the ABC News presidential debate in September, Trump said he was interested in replacing the ACA — also known as “Obamacare” — but implied that he didn’t have any specific plans in place.
“Obamacare was lousy health care. Always was,” Trump said. “It’s not very good today and, what I said, that if we come up with something, we are working on things, we’re going to do it and we’re going to replace it.”
When asked to clarify if he had a health care plan, the former president said he had “concepts of a plan” to replace the ACA but provided no details.
“If we can come up with a plan that’s going to cost our people, our population, less money and be better health care than Obamacare, then I would absolutely do it,” Trump said.
After Harris’ press conference on Thursday, Trump took to Truth Social to deny wanting to end the ACA.
“Lyin’ Kamala is giving a News Conference now, saying that I want to end the Affordable Care Act. I never mentioned doing that, never even thought about such a thing,” he wrote Thursday morning.
Trump made several attempts to repeal the ACA during his presidency but failed to do so.
He attempted to partially repeal the ACA by passing the American Health Care Act (ACHA). The plan would have repealed the individual mandate and the employer mandate, amended Medicaid eligibility and weakened protections for patients with pre-existing conditions.
The ACHA passed the House in May 2017 but failed to pass in the Senate. Perhaps mostly infamously, the Senate attempted to pass a so-called “skinny repeal” in late July 2017 but it was rejected, with Republican Sens. John McCain, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski siding with Senate Democrats to kill the bill.
During a closed-door campaign event for a fellow Republican House candidate earlier this week, House Speaker Mike Johnson said that there will be “no Obamacare.”
“We want to take a blowtorch to the regulatory state,” Johnson said in footage first reported by NBC News. “Health care is one of the sectors, but we need this across the board.”
“No Obamacare?” an attendee of the event asked Johnson.
“No Obamacare,” Johnson replied. “The ACA is so deeply ingrained, we need massive reform to make this work, and we got a lot of ideas on how to do that.”
Trump’s campaign has worked to separate itself from the speaker’s comments with Karoline Leavitt, national press secretary for the Trump campaign, telling ABC News in a statement that repealing the ACA is “not President Trump’s policy position.”
“As President Trump has said, he will make our health care system better by increasing transparency, promoting choice and competition, and expanding access to new affordable health care and insurance options. Kamala Harris broke our health care system, President Trump will fix it,” the statement continued.
The 2024 GOP platform currently calls for expanding access to “new” affordable health care and prescription drug access as well as protecting Medicare and increasing transparency in the health care sector.
Trump enlists Kennedy to oversee health care policy
Trump has also suggested that he intends to tap Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. — who dropped out of the presidential race in August and endorsed Trump — to help shape health care policies if he wins a second term.
During the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner — an annual white-tie dinner to raise money for Catholic charities — earlier this month, Trump said Kennedy will “make us a healthier place.”
“We’re gonna let him go wild for a little while, then I’m gonna have to maybe reign him back, because he’s got some pretty wild ideas, but most of them are really good,” Trump said at the dinner. “I think he’s a — he’s a good man, and he believes, he believes the environment, the healthy people. He wants healthy people, he wants healthy food. And he’s going to do it. He’s going to have a big chance to do it, because we do need that.”
Kennedy said Trump has “promised” him “control of the public health agencies,” but Trump’s team said no decisions have been made yet on who will be leading these agencies if he wins the election.
However, Trump implied during a rally in Henderson, Nevada, on Thursday that Kennedy would play a role in shaping women’s health care policies.
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr., we have,” Trump said. “And he’s gonna work on health, and women’s health, and all of the different reasons ’cause we’re not really a wealthy or a healthy country. We’re not.”
There are currently no women’s health care issues listed in the 2024 GOP platform aside from keeping “men out of women’s sports.”
“The only thing President Trump and his campaign team are focused on is winning on November 5th. Everything after that is after that, and President Trump has made clear that Bobby Kennedy will play an important role,” Jason Miller, senior adviser to the Trump campaign told ABC News in a statement.
In response to Trump saying Kennedy will oversee women’s health, Harris reposted a clip of Trump’s comments on X with the caption “No” followed by a heart emoji.
The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to ABC News’ requests for comment.
ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Soorin Kim, Will McDuffie, Lauren Peller and Kelsey Walsh contributed to this report.
