Health Highlights: Feb. 13, 2020

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

X1-5 Hoverboards Pose Fire Risk

Lithium ion batteries in New High-Tech Enterprise’s X1-5 hoverboards can overheat and pose a fire hazard, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said Wednesday.

The commission is aware of one report of an X1-5 hoverboard overheating and smoking and is advising consumers with the boards not to charge or use them.

The boards were sold online. A white label on the bottom of the hoverboard states: “Model: X1-5” and “Product Name: Balance Scooter.”

The commission said New High Tech Enterprise has refused a request to recall the hoverboards.

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Some Coronavirus Testing Kits Sent to States Are Faulty: CDC

Some coronavirus testing kits sent to state laboratories across the United States are flawed and don’t provide accurate results, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday.

Kits were sent to every state, but CDC officials didn’t reveal how many of the kits were faulty, The New York Times reported.

Distribution of the kits was done so that states could do their own testing and get results faster, instead of having to wait several days for results from the CDC.

“Obviously, a state wouldn’t want to be doing this test and using it to make clinical decisions if it isn’t working as well, as perfectly, at the state as it is at CDC,” Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said during a media briefing on Wednesday, the Times reported.

The problem appears to be due to one ingredient involved in the test, she said.

The CDC will make a new supply of that ingredient and send it to all of the state laboratories with the kits, Messonnier said. The ingredient will be shipped to the laboratories as soon as possible, according to officials.

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Labeling Error Led to Release of Woman Infected with Coronavirus: U.S. Officials

A specimen labeling error led to a woman infected with the new coronavirus being mistakenly released from UC San Diego Medical Center on Sunday, officials say.

They said the error was caught as the woman was returning to a San Diego military base where more than 200 evacuees from China are under federal quarantine, the Associated Press reported.

She was among several evacuees who’d been under observation for symptoms at UC San Diego Medical Center and were released on Sunday.

Those patients were isolated on the base until the test results came back, and the woman who tested positive was sent back to the hospital, said Dr. Christopher Braden, head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention delegation in San Diego, the AP reported.

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