News Briefs: Sept. 11, 2019

63-year-old woman dies on flight to Manila

MANILA, Philippines — An terminally-ill elderly woman died on a flight that arrived from Vancouver, Canada, at the Ninoy Aquino International on Monday.

The Manila International Airport Authority said the 63-year-old Filipino woman, a native of Batangas, was a passenger of Philippine Airlines flight PR 117 which arrived from Vancouver at around 5 a.m.

The woman, whose name was withheld, was suffering from breast cancer with kidney and bone metastasis, according to the MIAA medical team.

The medical report identified the immediate cause of death as cardiorespiratory arrest and end-stage renal failure.

Airline crew said that the woman appeared already weak when she boarded the aircraft in Vancouver. —Jerome Aning

Gov’t hospitals told: Report cases of illness due to vaping

MANILA, Philippines — The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ordered government hospitals to immediately report cases of patients who fell ill after using electronic cigarettes or vaping in the wake of the reported five deaths and illnesses in the US.

FDA acting chief and Health Undersecretary Rolando Enrique Domingo said that since e-cigarettes were under the FDA’s supervision, hospitals should “immediately communicate relevant case reports of injuries and illnesses documented arising from the use of these devices.” Domingo, however, said the patients should remain anonymous in compliance with the Data Privacy Act.

Last week, the US’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that a fifth patient, with a history of e-cigarette use, died from severe lung disease.

It added that over 450 cases of lung illness were also being looked into if these were linked to e-cigarette use. —Jovic Yee