(BURNINGTOWN, N.C.) — Four people are alive after a medical helicopter that was transporting a patient crashed in Macon County, North Carolina, on Thursday evening, according to Warren Cabe, Director of Macon County Emergency Services.
Three crew members were transporting a patient from a medical facility in Murphy, North Carolina, to Mission Hospital in Asheville when it crashed in Burningtown at around 7 p.m., according to Director Cabe.
Three of the people on board were transported to Mission Hospital with minor to moderate injuries, Cabe said. One other person on board was transported to Angel Medical Center in Franklin, North Carolina.
While there was no fire, the helicopter sustained “severe damage,” said Cabe.
A section of Middle Burningtown Road will be closed until at least late day on Friday as investigators sift through the wreckage and work to determine the cause of the accident, authorities confirmed.
The Erlanger Health System spokesperson said only preliminary details were available but that this is the first crash in the LIFE FORCE program’s 34-year history, according to ABC News’ Asheville affiliate WLOS.
According to LIFE FORCE Air Medical, the company began operating out of Andrews, North Carolina, in August 2017 when it opened a base at the Western North Carolina Airport, WLOS said. LIFE FORCE operates two air-bus helicopters out of the base.
Authorities will continue processing the scene on Friday to determine the cause of the accident and the investigation is ongoing.
(NEW YORK) — A nationwide shortage of the asthma medication albuterol has been ongoing since last fall and experts fear it’s only expected to get worse.
Albuterol can be taken in several forms but it’s the aerosolized solution used in a nebulizer in hospitals that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration put on its drug shortage list in late October. This shortage poses the greatest challenge for hospital settings where it is used most commonly but can be a problem for those that use this form of the drug at home.
This shortage only impacts a very specific dosage form of the medication generally used in hospitals. The FDA says it has been “working closely with manufacturers and others in the supply chain for months to understand, mitigate and prevent or reduce any related impacts.”
Although it’s not clear what prompted the initial constrained supply, the FDA has been tracking the shortage.
Generic drug manufacturer Akorn Pharmaceuticals filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy last month, according to documents viewed by ABC News, and reportedly closed its U.S. facilities, knocking out one maker of albuterol.
The FDA updated its drug shortage page on March 1 to show Akorn’s albuterol inhalation solution is “not available” due to “no new manufacturing of product.”
This leaves Nephron Pharmaceuticals, based in South Carolina, as one of the only remaining primary manufacturers of liquid albuterol.
“We are currently producing Albuterol as fast as possible to deliver to the market — and to patients — to address this shortage,” Nephron CEO Lou Kennedy told ABC News.
In a statement posted online Wednesday night, the FDA said, in part, that it’s “working to address a shortage of a particular form of albuterol — a medication that is used to treat breathing conditions. It is important to note that this shortage does not impact albuterol inhalers for personal use.”
“We recognize the potential impact that intermittent availability of certain drug products can have on providers & patients. To help meet demand, FDA has reiterated that outsourcing facilities may compound the specific product that’s in shortage to help increase supply,” it continued, in part. “The FDA continues to explore all available regulatory levers to help assure supply — including exercising discretion for potential temporary importation by foreign suppliers.”
Local pharmacies said they have been struggling to stock albuterol over the past few months and are worried the closure of Akorn facilities will make it harder.
“The albuterol solution has been in short supply for some time. It’s hard to get it in stock,” Jim Stage, owner of Lloyd Pharmacy in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and a pharmacist, told local ABC affiliate KSTP. “We’re checking secondary and tertiary vendors if our primary vendor doesn’t have it, so it’s just creating a little bit more legwork on our part.”
What is albuterol?
Asthma is an inflammatory disease that causes airways in the lungs to constrict and prevents normal breathing. It affects more than 25 million Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Albuterol is a medication that helps open these constricted airways. It works by activating the beta receptors in the lungs, which helps the airways open and relax so asthma sufferers can breathe more easily.
Inhaled albuterol can be given through an inhaler or as an aerosolized solution through a nebulizer machine. The aerosolized solution is the type currently facing a national shortage.
This solution is sometimes used at home for infants and young children who have difficulty using an inhaler, but it is used most commonly in hospital settings to treat a range of breathing problems associated with wheezing that includes asthma and some respiratory infections.
“This is a lifesaving medication that we need to have on demand and available when patients needed,” Dr. Juanita Mora, national volunteer medical spokesperson for the American Lung Association, told ABC News.
Mora said she has witnessed how distressing this shortage has been for her patients and families and warned that the pollen season is around the corner.
“As pollen levels rise, they are a huge trigger for asthma. I want to make sure that everyone’s asthma COPD emphysema long-haul COVID is well optimized before we head into that season,” Mora said.
Are there alternatives?
“Don’t panic,” Dr. David Khan, past president of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, told ABC News. “A lot of this issue is mainly, I would say, amongst hospitals, and they’re looking at other alternative sources for liquid albuterol.”
Khan explained that the albuterol inhalers are just as effective as nebulized albuterol, adding, “I think this is a common misconception. Patients just generally need to use a little bit more puffs of their Albuterol inhaler, and it’ll work the same as the nebulizer machine.”
For patients admitted to the hospital, or infants unable to use an inhaler, one alternative medication to albuterol is levalbuterol.
Although similar, studies have had mixed results. One study from 2003 found substituting levalbuterol for albuterol in emergency department care “significantly reduced the number of hospitalizations.”
However, a meta-analysis in 2013 showed levalbuterol was not “superior” to albuterol regarding efficacy and safety, and suggested not using it over albuterol for acute asthma.
It’s unclear if every day Americans are having trouble filling prescriptions. A Walgreens spokesperson told ABC News it is “able to meet patient demand/needs at this time.”
Other pharmacy chains including CVS Health, Rite Aid Corp., Kroger Inc. and Albertsons Inc. did not return ABC News’ request for comment.
How are asthma attacks prevented?
People with lung diseases like asthma or COPD can have more severe complications from respiratory viruses and pneumonia. To prevent these illnesses, experts say to stay up to date on all vaccines, including Covid-19 boosters and annual flu shots and to practice good hand washing.
It is also important to know and avoid asthma triggers. Each individual’s trigger may be different, but common triggers include seasonal allergies, carpets, pets, mold and tobacco smoke, according to the CDC.
When using an inhaler, proper technique is very important. The American Lung Association says people should make sure they are always using a spacer with an inhaler.
If frequently using albuterol, talk to your doctor about daily medications that help control asthma symptoms in addition to albuterol.
Mora urged people not to panic or hoard liquid albuterol because they are afraid of the shortage and says doctors are asking the FDA to act urgently to solve this problem.
“We are urging the FDA to get ahead of this problem before it becomes disastrous,” Mora said.
ABC News’ Sony Salzman and Karen Travers contributed to this report.
The failing septic tank buried behind Mautree Burke’s home causes sewage to rise to the surface of her backyard. — USDA
(NEW YORK) — After years of dealing with unsanitary wastewater conditions in and outside of their homes, some residents in the predominately African American Black Belt region of Alabama allege the state agency tasked with distributing funds to fix faulty septic systems has been slow to repair tanks and sewage lines.
Some residents have reported wastewater rising from the ground into their yards and entering their homes through pipes. This has been an ongoing problem for decades in the area, according to the Center of Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice (CREEJ). Now, residents and multiple organizations are taking action to try and clean up their community.
CREEJ joined the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Southern Poverty Law Center to file a complaint against the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) on Monday alleging the state agency is withholding funds, particularly from Black communities, that can be used to install and maintain water sanitation systems for those who need it the most.
“This complaint is incorrect and misleading,” Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey’s office told ABC News through a statement. “I suggest checking out the facts: https://alabamawaterprojects.com/“.
The director of the ADEM, Lance LeFleur, denies any racial bias in the allocation of funds.
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“I will tell people day in, day out, we do not, in any way, have any discrimination in this department,” LeFleur told ABC News. “The results are what matters. That’s what counts.”
The results that LeFleur is referring to are the $157 million he said the ADEM has committed to the Black Belt region, which is an area where a majority of the residents are African American and has some of the highest poverty rates in the country, according to experts from the University of Alabama. That’s 34% of the total funds the ADEM currently has for wastewater management for the entire state, he said. According to LeFleur, the Black Belt makes up 10.6% of Alabama’s total population.
According to LeFleur, Alabama is expected to receive up to $1 billion for failing infrastructure in Alabama, partly through President Joe Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure bill but the state would need about $3 billion to fix all of their infrastructure issues, according to LeFleur.
But LeFleur said the money they’ve allocated so far hasn’t been implemented yet and plans on where to use it are still in development. LeFleur estimates about half of the homes in the Black Belt use their own septic systems, as opposed to a centralized system.
Currently, at least 30,000 homes have failing systems in the region and the ADEM has only been able to work with about 150 – 200 homes to install working systems in the last year, according to LeFleur.
Mautree Burke, 26, who said she lives on land in rural White Hall, Alabama, that was once used as a campsite for civil rights marches in the 60s, said she hasn’t seen any of that aid and is struggling to keep raw sewage from spewing over that same land.
She said wastewater is coming from a failing septic tank buried in her backyard and this is a problem many residents in her town are dealing with. Some residents don’t have a septic tank, but only pipes that carry wastewater from their houses directly into their yards, according to Burke.
“Sometimes, it’ll get clogged,” Burke said when describing an issue with a neighbor’s home, which she said has pipes. “And they’ll sometimes try to go unclog it with a stick or a pole so it can try to run again. And I’ll tell you this, who wants to do that?”
Burke lives in the Black Belt region in a home with her husband, three children and mother.
The region, which spans across several states in the South, was named for its black, fertile soil. The dense earth renders many existing wastewater systems ineffective, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Burke said her family can’t afford to pay the $10,000 – $15,000 she estimates it would cost to fix a crack in her 30-plus-year-old septic tank.
“That would help us tremendously,” Burke said when asked how a working septic tank would improve her and her family’s lives. “We wouldn’t have to worry about the system backing up or sewage coming into the house. The kids, they don’t go into the backyard, but they would be able to play more outside.”
The founder of CREEJ, Catherine Coleman Flowers, said she grew up in the Black Belt and had to deal with failing septic tanks in her home growing up.
“I mean, we live in the United States of America, for God’s sake,” Flowers told ABC News. “Nobody in this country should have sewage running back into their homes, or not be able to have it adequately treated, so that they can live in a healthy and safe environment.”
Flowers alleges the ADEM has the funds to alleviate Alabama’s septic system problem through Alabama’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund, but it is withholding the funds from the majority African American Black Belt region of Alabama. A claim, which the agency denies.
“I know there is people around here who care,” Burke said. “But I would say put their selves in our shoes that’s dealing with this situation. They’re taking like baby steps. They’re not in like a big hurry to do anything.”
(NEW YORK) — A member of a threatened owl species couldn’t resist the chance to join vacationers aboard a cruise liner, evading capture for weeks.
A “wayward” burrowing owl hitched a ride on the Royal Caribbean International’s Symphony of the Seas and remained on board for two weeks, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conversation Commission said on Facebook.
Throughout its stay, the owl made his presence known to other guests by perching on exit signs, resting on railings and peaking through planters, according to the state wildlife agency.
Biologist Ricardo Zambrano was brought on board after receiving a call from the ship’s environmental officer.
During the one-hour window of time between passengers disembarking and new passengers arriving for the next cruise to Mexico, Zambrano placed mist nets around the owl’s perch of choice, according to FWC.
The third attempt of capture was the charm. As the owl sat on a balcony on the 10th floor, crew members standing below made noise to distract it while Zambrano snuck up behind the bird of prey and safely netted it from the railing, the agency said.
“After the amazing rescue, the cute little stowaway was safely assisted with the disembarkation process,” the conservation commission wrote. “He had nothing to claim in customs.”
The owl seemed to be in good health but was transported to the South Florida Wildlife Center as a precautionary measure.
Burrowing owl populations around the world are decreasing, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species. The owl species is listed as endangered in Canada and threatened in Mexico, according to the Burrowing Owl Conservation Network.
In the U.S., the burrowing owl is listed as endangered in Minnesota, threatened in Colorado and Florida and as a species of concern in Arizona, California, Montana, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming, according to the network.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Thursday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL SPRING TRAINING
INTERLEAGUE
Toronto 3, Atlanta 1
Philadelphia 7, Baltimore 6
Detroit 10, Pittsburgh 7
Oakland 1, LA Dodgers 0
San Diego 6, Cleveland 4
Atlanta 9, Puerto Rico 0
St. Louis 6, Nicaragua 4
Venezuela 6, NY Mets 4
Mexico 11, Colorado 1
Israel 9, Washington 0
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Tampa Bay 6, Toronto 1
Boston 11, NY Yankees 7
Minnesota 2, Dominican Republic 1
Colombia 5, Chi White Sox 4
Kansas City 8, Great Britain 1
United States 6, LA Angels 0
Seattle 5, Canada 3
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Chi Cubs 8, Cincinnati 6
San Francisco 5, Milwaukee 2
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Charlotte 113, Detroit 103
Utah 131, Orlando 124
Indiana 134, Houston 125 (OT)
Memphis 131, Golden State 110
Milwaukee 118, Brooklyn 113
Sacramento 122, New York 117
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Carolina 1, Philadelphia 0
NY Islanders 4, Pittsburgh 3 (OT)
Final Dallas 10 Buffalo 4
NY Rangers 4, Montreal 3 (SO)
Vegas 4, Tampa Bay 3 (OT)
New Jersey 3, Washington 2 (SO)
Edmonton 3, Boston 2
St. Louis 4, San Jose 2
Los Angeles 5, Colorado 2
Arizona 4, Nashville 1
Ottawa 5, Seattle 4
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
UCLA 80, Colorado 69
Kansas 78, West Virginia 61
Marquette 72, St. John’s 70
Texas 60, Oklahoma St. 47
Arizona 95, Stanford 84
Iowa St. 78, Baylor 72
UConn 73, Providence 66
TCU 80, Kansas St. 67
Virginia 68, North Carolina 59
Miami 74, Wake Forest 72
Xavier 89, DePaul 84
Tennessee 70, Mississippi 55
San Diego St. 64, Colorado St. 61
Duke 96, Pittsburgh 69
Creighton 87, Villanova 74
In the new Hulu series Unprisoned, Kerry Washington plays Paige, a relationship therapist and single mom whose life is upended when her father returns from a 16-year prison stint. The show is inspired by creator Tracy McMillan‘s life, but Kerry says she and Delroy Lindo, who plays her father, Edwin, found a way to make the characters their own.
“One thing I think we both were negotiating was how to honor the source of the story and bring all of her truth that she was offering to us … but to also give ourselves permission to not be Tracy and her dad,” Kerry tells ABC Audio. “We had to be Paige and Edwin, so we had to have the freedom to … figure out who we were going to be that could bring all of that truth.” But, she notes, they were also characters of their own making based on the material.
Kerry adds she gave the show her all, as it was an opportunity to work with Delroy. “The honor of being able to come to work and know that I was gonna be able to have the opportunity to work with this man, who has been a hero of mine for decades — it was so inspiring,” she says. “I wanted to make him proud.”
Delroy says he equally enjoyed working with Kerry, who he called a “force.” He says he didn’t watch Scandal but felt the need to “come on with it,” and referred to their experience as a “formidable exchange.”
With Unprisoned, Kerry and Delroy hope to bring attention to those impacted by imprisonment, as well as their loved ones, and the process of returning to society. “We just wanted to humanize and dimensionalize this very real dynamic that is so common in our country that we don’t talk about enough,” Kerry says. (AUDIO 1-ON-1)
Courtesy: Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
This is how we remind you that Nickelback‘s getting inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
Chad Kroeger and company will receive the honor at this year’s Juno Awards, the Canadian equivalent of the Grammys. Speaking during a recent roundtable, Kroeger shared that the Hall of Fame recognition feels “so weird” and “absolutely bizarre.”
“You just feel very undeserving of something like that, first off,” Kroeger says. “And second, it just feels like we should be probably doing this for another 15 years before we get an honor like that.”
Kroeger laughed that the induction is a hint that Nickelback, which has certainly dealt with a lot of haters over the years, should retire.
“What are they telling us with this award?” drummer Daniel Adair joked. “That we should go away now?”
More seriously, entering the Canadian Hall of Fame has led the ‘Back to do some sincere reflecting on their career.
“We’ve been doing this 25 years,” Kroeger said. “I mean, we still call [Adair] the new guy, and how long have you been in the band?”
“Eighteen years,” Adair responded. “I’m still the new guy.”
Demi Lovato‘s new single “Still Alive,” from the soundtrack of the movie Scream VI, was co-written and produced by someone who’s equally famous and successful: Mike Shinoda of chart-topping rockers Linkin Park. And Shinoda, who also makes a cameo on the song’s video, is of the opinion that Demi can stand toe-to-toe with his band’s late, iconic singer, Chester Bennington.
Speaking with ABC Audio, Shinoda calls Lovato an “insane, world-class talent” and compares their versatility to Bennington’s.
“You could throw any vocal idea at him and he could nail it,” Shinoda says.
He laughs, “It is a lot of fun working with a superhero. Whenever I get to work with somebody who’s just that damn good, it’s a treat, it’s a total blessing. I had a great time doing it.”
Scream VI, which hits theaters Friday, also features a new Shinoda solo song, “In My Head.”
In other Demi news, they used their Instagram Story on Wednesday to celebrate International Women’s Day and to protest the recent introduction and/or passage of anti-LGBTQ legislation in several states. One post read, “Kids need to be protected from guns, not queer people.”
They also posted footage of Scream VI star Courteney Coxattending the film’s premiere.
Fleetwood Mac has gone through several lineup changes over the years, but none were as drastic as the summer of 1994 when they toured with only two original members: Mick Fleetwood and John McVie.
For that tour, Traffic’s Dave Mason, singer Billy Burnette and Bekka Bramlett filled in for Lindsey Buckingham, Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks. In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Bramlett, daughter of rock duo Bonnie and Delaney Bramlett, says she knew the gig was never going to last.
“I knew my job was to get Stevie back,” she says. “I wasn’t a moron.”
She says she knew taking the gig was “dangerous,” noting, “I knew I was facing tomatoes.”
Because of that, Bramlett decided to go out of her way to make sure fans didn’t mistake her for Stevie. “I didn’t want to twirl around. I wanted to be me,” she says. “I even dyed my hair brown just so people in the cheap seats would know that Stevie wasn’t going to be here. I didn’t want anyone to be discouraged or let down.”
She also stayed away from performing signature Stevie songs like “Rhiannon” and “Dreams,” although she did sing “Landslide” for a bit of the tour.
And as she suspected, the job didn’t last long. Bramlett says Mick fired her by fax, which she described as heartbreaking.
She did eventually get to meet Nicks, but says, “She didn’t care for me.”
“I was blonde. The first thing she said was, ‘Oh, I didn’t know she was blonde. And she over-sings,’” Bramlett explains. “But it’s OK. I still love her. She probably felt like I pissed on her tree. I can understand that. I’m a woman. I dig it. I understand it. I get it. I don’t dig it, but I get it.”
Elton John with Arthur (black and white) and Marilyn (brown); Arnaldo Magnani/Getty Images
Amid preparations for his annual Oscar Viewing Party this Sunday, Elton John and his family are mourning the death of their beloved dog Marilyn, who died, according to Elton’s husband, “just shy of her 18th birthday.”
Posting a photo of the pup, Elton’s husband David Furnish writes, “Marilyn joined the Furnish-Johns as companion to Elton’s beloved cocker spaniel Arthur. Together they traveled the world with us – from backstage at Caesar’s Palace to the gondolas of Venice.”
Furnish notes that when he and Elton welcomed sons Zachary and Elijah, “Marilyn was like a sentry posted at the door when both Zachary and Elijah first came home from the hospital.”
He adds, “Instinctively she knew about the importance of their arrival, and lay directly under their [bassinets] keeping vigil. Occasionally, she’d pop her head up over the edge to check on their well-being, with her tail wagging away madly.”
“Nobody, and I mean NOBODY who wasn’t a part of the family got near those boys,” Furnish gushes. “She was a fiercely loyal and protective mother.”
“She’s back together with Arthur now, charging around in doggie heaven and chasing rabbits,” he concludes. “A dear friend once remarked, ‘a dog is the only love you can buy,’ and the love we got back from Marilyn was bountiful and immeasurable.”
By Thursday evening, Elton, who’d “liked” David’s post, seemed O.K.: Photos showing him hanging out with Miley Cyrus, Lil Nas X and Donatella Versace at the Versace Fashion Week 2023 show in West Hollywood were posted to his Instagram Story.
