Amid an outbreak of hundreds of lung disease illnesses and two deaths related to e-cigarette use, investigators from the New York State Department of Health may have finally determined what is making people so sick across the country. Vitamin E acetate has become the focus of the Department after it was found in nearly all cannabis-containing samples analyzed by its investigation.

A second death, this time in Oregon, has been linked e-cigarette use after a patient was diagnosed with a severe respiratory illness.

HHS has jumped into the fray over the ongoing investigation into e-cigarettes amid more than 200 lung disease injuries associated with vaping. As of Aug. 27, 215 possible cases of pulmonary illnesses, including one death, have been reported across 25 states. 

A death in Illinois from pulmonary illness has been linked to the use of e-cigarettes, or vaping, according to the CDC. The Illinois patient is the first death reported amid an outbreak of lung illness that is somewhat mysterious but tied to vaping.

Medical mistakes are one of the leading causes of death in the U.S., and patients can experience harm when they are seeking care at hospitals. Knowing how patients are being harmed is crucial for healthcare providers to improve quality of care and outcomes.

The CDC is helping a handful of Midwest states investigate a “cluster” of lung diseases related to e-cigarette use, the agency announced Aug. 17.

Various sources publish annual or semi-annual rankings of top-performing hospitals, but those lists can actually be misleading, especially when they offer conflicting results, according to an article published in NEJM Catalyst.

Illinois became the first state to require insurance companies to pay the costs of EpiPen injection medicines for children 18 and younger.