FDA

Deli meats, carrots and fast food onions are some of the products that were recently recalled across the U.S. Experts say improved detection strategies means regulators are able to catch more health risks.

In January, a Parkville family learned their 8-year-old daughter had a rare illness. Though there is no cure, there is a drug that could help slow the disease. The problem? It costs more than $200,000 a year. Plus: Kansas politicians make bold claims about how to stop population declines in rural communities. Their efforts may not be enough to reverse the trend.

In January, the Anstaett family learned their eight-year-old daughter had Batten disease, a rare condition with a difficult — and eventually terminal — prognosis. The drug showing promise in slowing the disease isn't covered by their insurance because it's still in clinical trials.

The FDA banned donations entirely during the HIV epidemic in the early 1980s when little was known about AIDS. But the risk of transfusion-related transmission hasn’t been a real concern for decades. Kansas City University professor Dr. Benjamin Grin says the government’s holdout on changing guidelines is in part because of a lingering stigma.

The FDA and CDC recently approved COVID-19 vaccines for children between the ages of six months to five years old. Vaccines are available through your pediatrician, some local pharmacies and hospitals.

The authorization comes in the midst of an explosion of COVID-19 cases nationwide driven by the omicron variant — a surge that has brought a spike in pediatric hospitalizations.

Not a single scientific or health authority in the U.S. recommends the use of the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin to treat or prevent COVID-19. Still, some Americans see the unproven drug as a way out of the pandemic.

The CDC is now recommending the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for the younger age group so we asked a pediatrician what should parents know before their kids get the shot.

With COVID-19 vaccines available soon for children ages 5-11, I wanted to see how Kansas City kids felt about their shots. I also heard something more: fears about the disease that's changed their lives, and impatience over long-promised plans and parties.

The agency acted after an independent panel of scientists strongly supported the move. Kids could start getting vaccinated within the week.

The Food and Drug Administration also gave an OK to boosters that differ from the vaccine originally used to immunize people against COVID-19. A mix-and-match approach could ease the booster rollout.

Pfizer and BioNTech say that early trial results show their vaccine established a strong antibody response against the coronavirus. FDA review is still needed.