Health and science highlights

December 16, 2025 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• 7 deaths, hundreds of injuries linked to faulty Abbott glucose monitor  (NPR)
• Head of RFK Jr.’s vaccine panel: School mandates ‘not necessary’ (The Hill)
• Bird flu surges among poultry amid a scaled back federal response  (NPR)
• FDA restricts use of kids' fluoride supplements citing emerging health risks (AP)
• Hemp-derived THC drinks, edibles could soon disappear because of shutdown bill  (The Hill)
• Worsening listeria outbreak tied to pasta products kills 6, hospitalizes 25 (NPR)
• Why some health clinics are turning to AI to screen for tuberculosis  )NPR)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• Google Has Chosen a Side in Trump's Mass Deportation Effort (404 Media)
• Musk could leave Tesla if $1 trillion pay plan is rejected, chair warns  (Reuters)
• US will share sensitive nuclear submarine technology with South Korea, Trump says  (AP)
• US government allowed and even helped US firms sell tech used for surveillance in China, AP finds
• ICEBlock app sues Trump administration for censorship  (NPR)
• What are the satellites saying? It's no secret if they're not encrypted. (KPBS)
• Study finds humans were making fire 400,000 years ago, far earlier than once thought (AP)
• A confidential manifesto lays out Isaacman's sweeping new vision for NASA (Politico)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

HEALTH

7 deaths, hundreds of injuries linked to faulty Abbott glucose monitor  (NPR)

Abbott Diabetes Care has warned of faulty glucose readings on some of its devices, potentially linked to seven deaths and hundreds more serious injuries. Some 3 million of the company's FreeStyle Libre 3 and FreeStyle Libre 3 Plus sensors were affected...In a press release, the company said "internal testing determined that some sensors may provide incorrect low glucose readings." Customers who confirm their device is affected "should immediately discontinue use and dispose of it," Abbott said.

Head of RFK Jr.’s vaccine panel: School mandates ‘not necessary’ (The Hill)

 Martin Kulldorff, chair of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said in an interview Thursday he believes vaccine mandates for schools are “not necessary.”

Bird flu surges among poultry amid a scaled back federal response  (NPR)

In the past 30 days, the virus has struck 66 poultry flocks, leading to the deaths of more than 3.5 million turkeys, chickens and ducks, a steep increase compared to the summer months….scientists expect more outbreaks in other parts of the country, given bird migratory patterns.  If not taken seriously, the fallout could lead to more than high egg prices. Influenza researchers fear a replay of last year when, for the first time, the U.S. saw close to 70 human cases, including one death.

FDA restricts use of kids' fluoride supplements citing emerging health risks (AP)

... The FDA said that the products are no longer recommended for children younger than 3 and those who are older but don't face serious risks of tooth decay. Previously, the products have been prescribed for children as young as six months.

Hemp-derived THC drinks, edibles could soon disappear because of shutdown bill  (The Hill)

Popular THC-infused drinks and edibles may disappear from store shelves in the next year as Congress is on the verge of passing a ban on nearly all hemp-derived THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, products. Tucked into the Senate-passed government funding bill is a provision that would recriminalize many of the intoxicating hemp-derived products that were legalized by the 2018 farm bill.   

Worsening listeria outbreak tied to pasta products kills 6, hospitalizes 25 (NPR)

 A deadly listeria outbreak connected to prepared pasta meals sold at grocery chains nationwide is worsening, federal health officials say. As of late October, the outbreak has killed six people and sickened 27, all but two of whom were hospitalized... Cases have been reported in 18 states: California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington. 

Why some health clinics are turning to AI to screen for tuberculosis 

NPR - More than 3,000 people around the world die from TB every day, and many tuberculosis patients live in low-income countries with limited access to health care. Now artificial intelligence is being used where medical specialists are not available, part of a trend that some experts say will change the future of global health.

SCIENCE AND TECH

Google Has Chosen a Side in Trump's Mass Deportation Effort (404 Media)

Google is hosting a CBP app that uses facial recognition to identify immigrants, while simultaneously removing apps that report the location of ICE officials because Google sees ICE as a vulnerable group.

Musk could leave Tesla if $1 trillion pay plan is rejected, chair warns  (Reuters)

 Elon Musk could leave Tesla as CEO if his proposed $1 trillion pay package was not approved, Chair Robyn Denholm warned in a letter to shareholders on Monday.  The appeal comes ahead of the November 6 annual meeting, with Tesla's board having faced repeated criticism for not acting in shareholders' best interests and governance experts and advocacy groups questioning its independence and oversight of Musk's influence.

US will share sensitive nuclear submarine technology with South Korea, Trump says  (AP)

The United States will share closely held technology to allow South Korea to build a nuclear-powered submarine, President Donald Trump said on social media after meeting with the country’s president during Trump’s ongoing trip to Asia.

US government allowed and even helped US firms sell tech used for surveillance in China, AP finds

U.S. lawmakers have tried four times since September last year to close what they called a glaring loophole: China is getting around export bans on the sale of powerful American AI chips by renting them through U.S. cloud services instead. But the proposals prompted a flurry of activity from more than 100 lobbyists from tech companies and their trade associations...The result: All four times, the proposal failed, including just last month.

ICEBlock app sues Trump administration for censorship  (NPR)

The developer of ICEBlock, an iPhone app that anonymously tracks the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, has sued the Trump administration for free speech violations after Apple removed the service from its app store under demands from the White House. The suit, filed on Monday in federal court in Washington, asks a judge to declare that the administration violated the First Amendment when it threatened to criminally prosecute the app's developer and pressured Apple to make the app unavailable for download, which the tech company did in October.

What are the satellites saying? It's no secret if they're not encrypted. (KPBS)

 Schulman was one of a handful of UC San Diego scholars, with partners at the University of Maryland, who….set out to study how satellite messages were encrypted…. “We realized very quickly we….there was no encryption! So we’re going to have to go in and analyze that traffic we saw unencrypted and just figure out who this is, and report to them so they could get it turned off,” Schulman said. The unencrypted messages included sensitive corporate information. People calling to speak with their doctors and lawyers....He said a lot of U.S. Navy communications they got were encrypted, but some were not. Enough to reveal that messages were coming from Navy ships.

Study finds humans were making fire 400,000 years ago, far earlier than once thought (AP)

Scientists in Britain say ancient humans may have learned to make fire far earlier than previously believed, after uncovering evidence that deliberate fire-setting took place in what is now eastern England around 400,000 years ago. The findings, described in the journal Nature, push back the earliest known date for controlled fire-making by roughly 350,000 years.

A confidential manifesto lays out Isaacman's sweeping new vision for NASA (Politico)

The 62-page plan, obtained by POLITICO, proposes outsourcing some of NASA’s missions to the private sector and treating the government agency more like a business. …. Isaacman’s manifesto would radically change NASA’s approach to science. He advocates buying science data from commercial companies instead of putting up its own satellites, referring to it a “science-as-a-service.”  The document also recommends taking “NASA out of the taxpayer funded climate science ok business and [leaving] it for academia to determine.”… Isaacman also recommended the agency “terminate” NASA’s Space Launch System...