Abstracts: Earthquake in Italy, EpiPen Price Hike, a Manipulative Psychiatrist, and More
• On Wednesday, a 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck Italy, devastating the town of Amatrice and killing at least 241 people. Italy’s mountains are laced with faults, but it is not the only reason earthquakes there can be so damaging. (Washington Post)
• The auto-injector used to reverse allergic reactions, EpiPen, had somewhat humble beginnings. Now Mylan, the company that owns it, is facing difficult questions about the increasing price-hikes of this life-saving device. (STAT)
• An Oklahoma psychiatrist has been accused of manipulating the religious beliefs of two female patients in order to sexually abuse them. The state medical board, which allowed the psychiatrist to surrender his license, did not notify authorities of the abuse. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• A new report found that 32 children in Salina, Kansas had elevated levels of lead in their blood. Lead paint is the likely culprit, rather than a common, community-wide cause. (Kansas City Star)
• Six scientists who have been spent a year simulating an isolated Martian environment on a Hawaiian mountain are about to finish. The researchers leave the facility on August 28. (Associated Press)
• Two years ago, as Ebola was spreading throughout West Africa, two Americans became ill and were shipped back to the United States. At the time, presidential candidate Donald Trump made multiple tweets in which he insisted that the two men should be blocked from returning to the U.S. for treatment. (Washington Post)
• Donald Ainslie Henderson, the epidemiologist who led the effort to eradicate smallpox, died on August 19 at the age of 87. (The Economist)
• Heeding calls from environmental groups, lawmakers in the U.K. may ban plastic micro-beads, which can make their way into aquatic environments and into the marine food chain. (Christian Science Monitor)
• And finally, more than 20,000 fish are estimated to have been killed by an unidentified parasite in the Yellowstone River. The river, normally a draw for tourists, will be closed indefinitely as researchers try to understand the situation and prevent the parasite from spreading further. (BBC)