Former Delegate Charles Poindexter has died, according to officials and family members.
Poindexter, who served in the Virginia House of Delegates, represented his district for several years and was known as a vocal conservative voice during his time in office. Details surrounding his death were not immediately released.
Poindexter was elected to the General Assembly after a career that included work in the private sector and community involvement. During his tenure in Richmond, he focused on fiscal issues and frequently spoke out on matters of government spending and constitutional principles.
Colleagues and political leaders on Thursday offered condolences, remembering Poindexter as an outspoken and deeply committed public servant who held his beliefs firmly.
Funeral arrangements had not been announced as of Thursday.
Mark Zuckerberg (R), CEO of Meta testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on January 31, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Mark Zuckerberg took the stand on Wednesday in a landmark Los Angeles trial alleging that major social media platforms were intentionally designed to be addictive for children and teens.
The case, which began last Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, centers on claims against Meta — the parent company of Facebook and Instagram — and YouTube, which is owned by Google. Plaintiffs argue the companies knowingly built features that encouraged compulsive use among young users, contributing to long-term mental health harm.
The lawsuit was brought by a now-20-year-old woman identified as “Kaley” and her mother, who allege she was exposed to addictive design features as a child. Her lawyers claim she got hooked on social media apps starting as young as age 6. She says features like auto-scrolling got her addicted to the platforms — ultimately leading to anxiety, depression and body image issues.
In opening statements, the plaintiffs’ attorney Mark Lanier told the jury the case was “as easy as ABC,” which he said stood for “addicting the brains of children.”
The case is the first of more than 1,500 similar lawsuits nationwide to go before a jury, potentially setting a precedent for how tech companies are held liable for product design.
Zuckerberg has appeared before Congress multiple times to address concerns over youth safety and online harms, but Wednesday marks the first time he will testify before a jury on these claims.
Several parents of children who died by suicide or accidental harm linked to online trends are expected to attend the proceedings. Some previously watched Zuckerberg apologize during a 2024 Capitol Hill hearing, where he acknowledged families who said social media contributed to their children’s deaths.
The companies deny the allegations, arguing that mental health outcomes are shaped by a range of factors beyond social media use. They say they have implemented safeguards aimed at protecting young users, including parental controls and accounts designed specifically for teens.
In a statement to ABC News at the start of the trial, a Meta spokesperson said, “We strongly disagree with these allegations and are confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people.”
Meta said that the company has made “meaningful changes” to its services, such as introducing accounts specifically for teenage users.
Zuckerberg’s appearance follows testimony last week from Instagram head Adam Mosseri, who disputed characterizing Instagram use as an “addiction,” while acknowledging what he described as “problematic use.”
Mosseri testified that there’s always a tradeoff between “safety and speech,” saying users don’t like it when they remove options from Instagram.
The Los Angeles trial is part of a broader wave of litigation targeting social media companies. Meta is also facing a separate child safety lawsuit in New Mexico, while lawsuits brought by school districts — modeled after tobacco litigation in the 1990s — are expected to head to trial later this year.
Social platforms Snapchat and TikTok were previously named in the lawsuit but reached settlements with the plaintiffs last month.
Stock image of a sick person. (Guido Mieth/STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Flu activity is starting to decline nationwide, according to newly released data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC estimated on Friday that there have been at least 19 million illnesses, 250,000 hospitalizations and 10,000 deaths from flu so far this season.
Currently, seven states are seeing “very high” levels of flu-like illnesses while 23 states are seeing “high” levels, CDC data shows.
At least 12 flu-associated deaths were reported among children this week, for a total of 44 pediatric deaths this season. Last season saw a record-breaking 289 children die from flu, the highest since the CDC began tracking in 2004.
Despite flu activity on the decline, flu-related emergency department visits for school-aged children between ages 5 and 17 increased since last week while hospitalizations remained stable.
“I think what distinguished this year’s flu season to previous seasons is that, first of all, it began a little bit earlier,” Dr. Daniel Kurtzikes, former chief of infectious diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, told ABC News.
Kuritzkes added that although data does not show that cases increased more dramatically than last year, “we may have perceived it as being worse than it really was, and it now seems like it peaked rather abruptly and is on a rapid decline.”
However, Kuritzkes noted that last year, flu season had a second bump in late winter. He warned that the same thing could happen this year.
Data shows that the majority of this season’s cases are linked to a new flu strain called subclade K — a variant of the H3N2 virus, which is itself a subtype of influenza A.
Subclade K has been circulating since the summer in other countries and was a main driver of a spike in flu cases in Canada, Japan and the U.K.
Dr. Geeta Sood, an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, explained that the annual flu vaccine formulation was decided before subclade K emerged, meaning the vaccine is a “mismatch” for the strain, to an extent, while still providing protection against serious disease, hospitalization and death.
“So, this year, we have a couple of problems,” she told ABC News. “One is that the circulating strain that’s predominantly out there is pretty different from the strains that we’ve seen in previous years. … Again, it changes every year, but the amount that it changes can be a lot some years and not so much other years.”
However, she said that early data from the U.K. shows that the vaccine has been protective against serious complications, particularly among children.
“It certainly protects against severe disease, but it’s not one of our best matching vaccines,” Sood said.
Another problem, according to Sood, is that vaccination rates are lower than she would like to see.
As of Jan. 10, 45.6% of adults aged 18 and older and 44.2% of children have received an annual flu vaccine, according to CDC data.
Sood said it’s not too late to get vaccinated, especially because influenza season can last through early spring.
“Even though it takes two weeks to get full immunity, you still get immunity sooner rather than later,” she said. “There’s still plenty of influenza out there, and there’s reactivity to protect you against other strains”
Doctors told ABC News they recommend other hygiene methods, including thoroughly washing hands with soap and water, avoiding crowded places, getting good circulation by opening windows and considering masking.
Richard Zhang, MD, MA, is a child and adolescent psychiatry fellow at Yale School of Medicine and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.
