Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:
Heimlich Maneuver Inventor, Now 96, Saves Choking Woman
The inventor of the Heimlich maneuver used his technique to rescue a woman choking on a piece of hamburger.
Dr. Henry Heimlich, 96, saved the 87-year-old woman at his retirement home in Cincinnati. Staff dashed to the table when the woman started choking, but Heimlich was already there and performed his famous maneuver, BBC News reported.
The woman quickly recovered, Heimlich told the Cincinnati Inquirer.
This is believed to be only the second time Heimlich has used the maneuver in an emergency. He told the BBC in 2003 that he used the technique on a man choking in a restaurant when he was 80 years old.
The Heimlich technique was introduced in 1974 and is believed to have saved the lives of more than 100,000 people in the United States alone. Heimlich' son Phil said his father often meets people who were saved by the technique or used it to save someone else, BBC News reported.
-----
NYC Can Enforce Menu Salt Warning Rule: Court
New York City can enforce a rule requiring restaurant chains to include salt warnings on menus, a court says.
The rule requiring restaurants to place saltshaker in a triangle icon beside food items with high levels of salt (more than 2,300 milligrams) took effect in December, The New York Times reported.
While some restaurant chains started included the menu icon, other chains and the National Restaurant Association launched a legal challenge, and a court ruling prevented the city from enforcing the rule.
On Thursday, the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court lifted the enforcement ban.
"This is really important to the health of New Yorkers," said Dr. Mary Bassett, the city's health commissioner, The Times reported. "We will be able to ensure that New Yorkers have the information they need to make better decisions about what they eat."
-----
Mold Threat Prompts Recall of Millions of Sippy Cups
More than 3 million sippy cups are being recalled in the United States due to reports of mold in the cups' valves, the federal government says.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission said there have been 3,066 reports of mold in the valves of the "Tommee Tippee Sippee" cups, and 68 cases of children who developed diarrhea, vomiting or other problems associated with drinking from a cup with mold in the valve, CBS News reported.
The cups from Mayborn USA were sold nationwide from December 2014 through May 2016 at stores such as Target, Walgreens and Walmart, and through online retailers including Amazon.
The CPSC said consumers with the recalled cups should stop using them and go to Mayborn's website or call the company toll-free at 877-248-6922 to receive a free replacement cup, CBS News reported.
-----
Republican Congressman Says He Used Medical Marijuana
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) told a group of marijuana activists that two weeks ago he tried medical marijuana to treat his arthritis pain and it helped him.
The lawmaker said he tried a topical wax-based marijuana treatment and that night "was the first time in a year and a half that I had a decent night's sleep because the arthritis pain was gone," the Washington Post reported.
It's the first time in decades that a sitting U.S. congressman admitted to marijuana use while in office.
"This is definitely the first legislator in Congress in at least 30-some-odd years who has acknowledged to using marijuana illegally," Alan St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, told Russ Belville of Cannabis Radio yesterday, the Post reported.
Rohrabacher is one of the conservatives in Congress pushing for an overhaul of marijuana laws, and medical marijuana is legal in his home state of California.
