Health Highlights: Aug. 3, 2017

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Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

Prosecutors Deployed to Fight U.S. Drug Abuse Epidemic

Twelve federal prosecutors will be sent to cities plagued by drug addiction to investigate health care fraud and opioid scams, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Wednesday.

The pilot program is meant to combat the nation’s drug abuse epidemic, the Associated Press reported.

“In recent years some of the government officials in our country I think have mistakenly sent mixed messages about the harmfulness of drugs,” Sessions said. “So let me say: We cannot capitulate intellectually or morally unto this kind of rampant drug abuse. We must create a culture that’s hostile to drug abuse.”

The prosecutors will analyze data in an attempt to identify doctors and other health care providers who illegally prescribe or distribute powerful opioid painkillers, the AP reported.

The drugs are a major factor in the nation’s deadly drug overdose epidemic. A record 215,000 Americans died of overdoses in 2015.

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Former Notre Dame Football Coach Ara Parseghian Dies at 94

Former Notre Dame football coach Ara Parseghian has died at age 94.

In a statement, university president Rev. John Jenkins said Parseghian died at his home in Granger, Ind., at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, the Associated Press reported.

Parseghian had recently returned home after spending more than a week in a nursing care facility, where he was treated for an infection in his surgically repaired hip. He continued to receive round-the-clock care at home.

After taking over a struggling Notre Dame football program in the 1960s, Parseghian led the team to two national championships (1966 and 1973) in 11 seasons. He retired after the 1974 season with a record of 95-17-4, the AP reported.

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