Given a paragraph, generate a claim that is supported by the given paragraph. 1) The claim must contain information from within the paragraph. 2) A sentence within the paragraph can be used as a claim. 3) The claim should not have contradictions within the paragraph. 4) The claim should be at most one sentence long.

Q: In July 2020, social media posts and news reports claimed that a Missouri school district asked parents to sign COVID-19 “death” waivers in advance of the academic school year. The waiver went viral after a Twitter user shared it. The focus on the word “death” came from an article published by online tabloid Raw Story that extrapolated language from the waiver meant to release Hazelwood School District (HSD) in Missouri from legal liabilities in the event a child dies “in any way related to COVID-19.” While it is true that HSD issued a waiver related to COVID-19, Anthony Kiekow, HSD director of communication and public relations, told Snopes that parents would only be required to sign if their child planned on participating in summer athletic programs. The waiver asked that a parent confirm their acknowledgment of the public health crisis “related to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (‘COVID-19’)” and confirmed that they would not allow a child to participate in programs if they showed any symptoms of COVID-19 or had been exposed to anyone diagnosed with the disease or awaiting test results. It further notes: The undersigned agrees to release, discharge, hold harmless and indemnify the Hazelwood School District, it’s agents, employees, officers, Board of Education members, insurers and others acting on the District’s behalf (the Releasees”), of and from any and all claims, demands, causes of action and/or legal liabilities for injuries to or death of my child occurring during, or resulting from, or participation in the above-mentioned program or activity and related in any way to COVID-19, even if the cause, damages or injuries are alleged to be the fault of or alleged to be caused by the negligence or carelessness of the Releasees. Such verbiage is not uncommon in school athletic waivers and headlines referring to the document as a COVID-19 “death” waiver were “sensationalizing” and largely misleading, added Kiekow. The waiver was created by the Missouri United School Insurance Council (MUSIC), a non-profit program that provides insurance coverage for Missouri public schools and community colleges. Snopes spoke with MUSIC Executive Director Mark Stockwell who said that the organization supplied all member school districts with two waiver templates recommended for summer athletic programs and not necessarily for those that take place during the academic school year. Kiekow confirmed that the waiver was sent in late June 2020 and was intended for parents whose students typically participate in summer athletics. He noted that required athletic waivers and documents from the previous school year were “very different from this waiver,” but that language related to COVID-19 is likely to be the “new norm for sports.” For the 2020-21 school year, the district announced that it would be offering families the option of selecting “100% virtual school” or a blended option that includes both virtual and in-person learning. A statement issued by HSD further reads that: Parents who want their child to participate in athletics are asked to sign a waiver. This year’s waiver includes language about COVID-19 to ensure that parents can make an informed decision… Our district has implemented unprecedented safety precautions in all of our buildings; however, it is important for parents to understand that school districts can only mitigate the risk of COVID-19. No district, organization, or business can offer 100% protection against exposure to a global pandemic. Visit the Centers for Disease Control website for more information about COVID-19. Parents of HSD students who choose to allow their children to attend in-person class would not be required to sign a COVID-19 waiver. When asked why HSD adopted this policy, Keikow replied via text message that “athletics are optional” and that a waiver for in-person instruction is “just not something that we’re requiring.” EdCounsel, a Missouri-based law firm that represents over 200 public school districts, wrote in a blog post that state “law is not clear” on whether school districts can require that families sign a COVID-19 waiver for students attending in-person instruction, but liability waivers for extracurricular activities are largely exempt.

A: A Missouri school district asked parents to sign a COVID-19 liability waiver in advance of the 2020-2021 school year. 
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Q: They said a device that stimulates the vagus nerve in the neck while simultaneously playing different sounds for several weeks helped eliminate the condition in a group of rats. A trial of the treatment in humans is set to start in Europe this year, said Dr. Navzer Engineer of MicroTransponder, a medical device company affiliated with The University of Texas at Dallas, whose study appears in the journal Nature. Tinnitus is sometimes brought on by hearing loss. It occurs as cells in the inner ear are damaged, often from a loud noise. Current drugs help mask tinnitus, but the condition is incurable. Engineer’s team thinks tinnitus may be caused when too many brain cells become tuned to a specific tone in the brain. So his team set out to train the brain to ignore the nerve signals that cause the ringing sound. To do this, they paired a device that sends electrical impulses to the vagus nerve in the neck with different sounds. Stimulating this nerve releases chemicals such as acetylcholine and norepinephrine that trigger changes in the brain. The University of Texas at Dallas team tested this approach in a series of experiments with rats, using an indirect but accepted method of testing hearing in animals. In one, they stimulated the vagus nerve while playing different sounds 300 times a day for 20 days to a group of eight rats with a form of tinnitus. The tones were close to the frequency of the ringing sound, and the hope was to trick some of the nerve cells into listening to the new tones rather than the ringing tone. When the team checked the nerve responses to different tones, the tinnitus had disappeared in rats exposed to the tones and nerve stimulation, but it persisted in a group of control animals. “Unlike previous treatments, we’re not masking the tinnitus. We are eliminating the source of the tinnitus,” Michael Kilgard of the University of Texas-Dallas, who worked on the study, said in a statement. MicroTransponder is developing a wireless medical device to stimulate the vagus nerve and hopes to test it in people later this year. Cyberonics Inc already sells vagus nerve stimulation devices for people with epilepsy and depression. The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, part of the National Institutes of Health, funded a large part of the research.

A: Device treatment may silence ringing in the ears.
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Q: While the story notes that the U.S. price of the Obalon intragastric balloon has yet to be announced, the story could have reported that the device and related care typically cost $2,500 to $4,000 in Europe, where it has been available for almost three years. Costs are also likely markedly higher than working with a behavioral team. The story quantified benefits by stating: Obese patients who swallowed balloon capsules that helped them eat less lost an average of 15 pounds, roughly two times more weight than patients who just dieted and exercised, researchers report. and: People treated with the balloons lost an average of 7 percent of their weight, compared to less than 4 percent for those who received the sham device, the researchers found. Six months after the balloons were removed, nearly 90 percent maintained the weight loss they achieved during treatment, Pryor said. In addition to reporting the weight loss results announced by researchers and that, unlike other balloons, this device doesn’t require patients to be sedated during placement, the story adds important context by including comments from independent sources who are skeptical that many patients will maintain their lower weight long after the device is removed. The story mentions these harms: As for side effects, one patient had a bleeding stomach ulcer while taking high doses of pain pills after a knee replacement. Most patients (91 percent) suffered from stomach cramps and nausea, which nearly 100 percent said were mild or moderate. The story would have been stronger if it had warned readers that a study that puts a device in only a couple of hundred people may miss problems that could appear after the device is placed in hundreds of thousands or even millions of patients. The documentation that the manufacturer will give patients lists several serious, even life-threatening, potential side effects, including intestinal and airway blockages. These potential risks should have been noted. The story reports the key features of the trial. It also notes that, “Research presented at meetings is considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.” The story would have been stronger if it clearly reported that the trial does not provide any evidence about whether the Obalon device is any better or worse than other options, because it did not compare it to similar balloons or to other weight loss interventions, other than the lifestyle counseling offered to all study participants. The researcher quoted in the story notes that this device could be an option for people who are leery of surgery. Independent sources quoted in the story predict a small role for such devices. One of the strongest aspects of this story is the ample use of independent sources to provide context and point out limitations of the device. However, this criterion demands that sponsors of research be identified, and this story does not tell readers that the trial was sponsored by Obalon Therapeutics. The story includes discussion of weight loss surgery and lifestyle interventions. It includes a quote noting that the Obalon device does not require patients to be sedated during insertion, which implies there are other similar balloon devices, though the story would have been better if it specifically noted that there are already two very similar devices available in the U.S. as well as other balloon devices that are for sale in other countries. It also could have pointed out that these results don’t appear more effective than an intensive behavioral program. The story reports that the Obalon balloon was approved by the FDA in September and will be available in January 2017. As noted above, the story reports that the Obalon device does not require patients to be sedated during insertion, which appears to be the main difference between this device and other similar balloons. It would have been better if it had more clearly informed readers that there are other intragastric balloon devices already on the market. The story notes that these study results also were presented back in May. The story includes several quotes from independent sources, as well as important details that were not included in a news release from the organizers of the the medical meeting where these results were presented. (We also reviewed the news release.)

A:
Balloon-in-a-pill helped obese patients lose weight
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