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Medical bills may soon be banned from credit reports under a new rule proposed Tuesday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). While lenders have been restricted from obtaining or using medical information in their credit decisions under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, exceptions in federal legislation allowed lenders to continue doing so. The proposed change would effectively close that loophole by barring credit reporting companies from disclosing medical debts to lenders, and prevent lenders from using that debt to make lending decisions. "The CFPB is seeking to end the senseless practice of weaponizing the credit reporting system to coerce patients into paying medical bills that they do not owe,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra in a Tuesday press release. "Me...

Danish officials have issued a recall on three types of spicy instant noodle products from a popular South Korean brand—claiming that the amount of peppery flavor is too intense and even poses a risk of “acute poisoning.”The three instant ramen flavors are made by the company Samyang Foods: Hot Chicken Stew, Buldak 3x Spicy & Hot Chicken, and 2x Spicy & Hot Chicken, the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration said in a post on its website Tuesday. Denmark’s food and safety agency encouraged the public to return those flavors to the store or throw them away.The agency said it was recalling the noodles because children and young people have been daring each other on social media platforms, such as TikTok and Instagram, to eat spicy noodles.“The challenge consists in tolerating the ...

Just in time for summer vacation season, COVID-19 seems to be creeping back in the U.S. Nationally, the amount of SARS-CoV-2 virus in wastewater is still low, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but levels have been gradually increasing in recent weeks. COVID-19 hotspots have already emerged in parts of the Northeast, West, and South, as well as Hawaii, wastewater data show.The increase is apparently driven by the so-called FLiRT variants, which began circulating in the U.S. earlier this spring. FLiRT variants now account for the majority of new U.S. cases, according to CDC monitoring, and seem to be driving an increase in transmission as well as a 16% rise in COVID-related emergency-department visits. Hospitalization and death rates are, for now, holdin...

Dozens of hikers say they fell ill during trips to a popular Arizona tourist destination that features towering blue-green waterfalls deep in a gorge neighboring Grand Canyon National Park.Madelyn Melchiors, a 32-year-old veterinarian from Kingman, Arizona, said she was vomiting severely Monday evening and had a fever that endured for days after camping on the Havasupai reservation.She eventually hiked out to her car in a weakened state through stiflingly hot weather and was thankful a mule transported her pack several miles up a winding trail, she said.“I said, ‘If someone can just pack out my 30-pound pack, I think I can just limp along,’” said Melchiors, an experienced and regular backpacker. Afterward, “I slept 16 hours and drank a bunch of electrolytes. I’m still not normal, but I wil...