Federal officials say there's new funding to study the medical potential of a powerful psychedelic. The effort announced Thursday includes nearly $5 million to lay the groundwork for U.S. studies of ibogaine. Ibogaine is made from an African plant and can cause intense hallucinations, nausea, tremors and dangerous heart rhythms. It's currently illegal in the United States. Veterans groups contend ibogaine has great promise for hard-to-treat conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder, severe depression and opioid addiction. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in April directing federal agencies to speed up review and research of psychedelics.

Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy says he has been discharged from the hospital after suffering a stroke last weekend and will miss “several weeks” of votes in the Senate as he recovers in a rehabilitation facility. The 53-year-old Murphy said in a statement Friday doctors are “encouraged by the progress” he’s made. Murphy says doctors diagnosed him with a small hemorrhagic stroke, which is a bleed in the brain. Murphy says he called 911 on Oct. 31 after feeling that “something was not right" with his body. Murphy says this has been “a scary experience” for him and his family.

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent charged with running over a Mexican man in Houston will turn himself in on Monday, according to his attorney, David Lindenmuth. Mario Alberto Morales struck Miguel Parra Hernandez, a 48-year-old construction worker, with his unmarked SUV on Oct. 10 as Parra Hernandez fled through a parking lot. A grand jury indicted Morales on Friday on a felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Parra Hernandez broke his leg and is recovering in a rehabilitation facility while in federal custody, according to Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare. ICE has said Parra Hernandez ran in front of Morales' car, an account Teare said video evidence contradicts.

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer accused of intentionally ramming his car into a Mexican construction worker in Houston has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Harris County prosecutors say Mario Alberto Morales was driving an unmarked SUV when it struck 48-year-old Miguel Parra Hernandez. ICE claims Parra Hernandez ran in front of the car. Prosecutors say video contradicts that account. Morales’ attorney said Morales did not intentionally strike Parra Hernandez and accused the Democratic district attorney of indicting Morales for political reasons. The district attorney says Parra Hernandez broke his leg and remains in federal custody at a rehabilitation facility.

Authorities have charged more than a dozen people in California with allegedly siphoning nearly $2 billion in fraudulent healthcare costs. The Department of Justice and state prosecutors announced the charges on Thursday. The operation targeted substance abuse treatment centers, hospice services and surgeons. At least six doctors were involved, including one accused of performing unnecessary surgeries to bill Medicaid for over $100 million. This crackdown is part of President Donald Trump's efforts to end the abuse of federal programs. The administration recently announced a $25 million program to encourage whistleblowers to report suspected fraud in government programs.

The state of Florida won a key court decision Wednesday that allows it to enforce a ban on social media accounts for kids under 14 and other r…