Health

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration meets this week to consider approval of an experimental treatment for Lou Gehrig’s disease, the culmination of a yearslong lobbying effort by patients with the fatal neurodegenerative disease. Those advocates still face one giant... Read More

Neanderthals live on within us. These ancient human cousins, and others called Denisovans, once lived alongside our early Homo sapiens ancestors. They mingled and had children. So some of who they were never went away — it's in our genes. And... Read More

Maternal health care in rural America is in crisis. Declining birth rates and shrinking populations have played a role, but this crisis is more acute now than ever because of widespread hospital closures in rural areas. On top of that, the dozens of maternity... Read More

WASHINGTON — Beginning Monday, Americans will once again be able to order free coronavirus tests from the U.S. government, the Department of Health and Human Services said on Wednesday afternoon. The Biden administration said it is reviving a program it... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations on Tuesday released the Strategy for Combating Illicit Opioids, an intelligence-driven approach to disrupting and dismantling transnational criminal organizations and keeping dangerous substances, like illicit fentanyl driving the overdose epidemic,... Read More

WASHINGTON — A common decongestant ingredient used in many popular over-the-counter medications simply doesn’t work, an advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday, potentially setting the stage for a sweeping removal of many cold and flu remedies... Read More

WASHINGTON — The nation’s poverty rate increased dramatically last year as inflation drove up the cost of living and federal aid programs created to help families weather the coronavirus pandemic were allowed to expire, the Census Bureau said on Tuesday.... Read More

WASHINGTON — People living in areas with high levels of particulate air pollution are likely to experience an increased incidence of breast cancer, according to a new study conducted by National Institutes of Health researchers. Their work, published in the... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved the use of updated COVID-19 vaccines to provide the public with additional protection against the virus ahead of a potential winter bump in cases. One thing the FDA did not... Read More

ATLANTA — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention awarded $279 million to 49 states, the District of Columbia and 40 local health departments to help stem the tide of overdoses within their communities.  The agency announced the awards on... Read More

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The Brooklyn-based Ice Cream House is voluntarily recalling all dairy ice cream products and non-dairy [Parve] frozen dessert products due to potential health risks in regards to Listeria monocytogenes.  Listeria monocytogenes, is an organism that can cause... Read More

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia area residents who have received Flowflex COVID-19 Antigen Home Tests from the city health department are being asked to check the lot numbers on those tests, and to discard any marked with lot numbers COV2110012. Officials with... Read More

AKIACHAK, Alaska (AP) — Sanitation workers Thomas Noatak and Joseph Moses start every workday riding a four-wheeler along the muddy roads of this small Yup’ik village on southwestern Alaska’s vast Kuskokwim River, looking for human waste. They’re checking honey bucket... Read More

WASHINGTON — From the National Mall here in Washington to points far north and south of our region along the Eastern Seaboard, a sizzling, post-Labor Day heat wave has people scrambling for ways to stay cool and safe. All three... Read More

ALBANY, N.Y. — September is Baby Safety Month and New York state got right into the swing of things Tuesday by releasing a series of baby-proof safety measures and tips through its Division of Consumer Protection. “The first years of... Read More

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Senate Appropriations Committee’s decision to protect and actually grow funding for the National Institutes of Health in key areas in the Senate’s proposed 2024 budget has garnered praise from Research!America, a nonprofit advocacy group. The alliance... Read More

WASHINGTON — In a letter released Tuesday, Brian Monahan, the attending physician for Congress, said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., does not have a seizure disorder and did not suffer a stroke when he appeared to suddenly go blank... Read More

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — For nearly 30 years, Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania have approved millions of taxpayer dollars for an anti-abortion program. Now the state's new governor plans to end the contract as the organization that distributes those... Read More

WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has been medically cleared to “continue with his schedule as planned,” a day after he appeared to freeze up while taking questions from reporters in Covington, Kentucky. In a brief letter, Brian... Read More

WASHINGTON — Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services are reportedly recommending the easing of restrictions on cannabis, a move, if approved by federal law enforcement, that could usher in a new era for the burgeoning though still... Read More

WASHINGTON — To those of a certain age, the music of Badfinger is an indelible part of their having grown up in the 1970s. From 1970 through 1972 their string of hits, almost all of them driving rock ballads written... Read More

ST. LOUIS (AP) — As the Biden administration makes billions of dollars available to remove millions of dangerous lead pipes that can contaminate drinking water and damage brain development in children, some states are turning down funds. Washington, Oregon, Maine... Read More

RICHMOND, Va. — A ruling by a federal appeals court Monday means Maryland schools can develop support plans for transgender or gender-nonconforming students without the consent of their parents. The 4th Circuit said the children — not the parents —... Read More

Simple hygiene — washing your hands, washing your nose, brushing your teeth, cleaning your living environment and taking care of your waste properly — is among the most cost-effective tools we have at our disposal to keep us healthy, both... Read More

ATLANTA — Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 have risen 12.5% across the country in the past week, but the latest data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that what some are calling a “surge” in cases is... Read More

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given its approval of the first oral medication to treat postpartum depression, a condition that is believed to impact one in seven women during the latter stages of pregnancy and after... Read More

WASHINGTON — The National Institutes of Health on Monday began enrolling patients for clinical trials to test long COVID treatments, nearly three years after Congress gave the agency $1.15 billion to research and test such treatments. The opening of enrollment... Read More

WASHINGTON — The White House on Thursday unveiled the first initiative of its new cancer-focused research agency, a program intended to improve cancer surgery outcomes by helping doctors more easily distinguish between cancers and healthy tissue. The administration’s Advanced Research... Read More

WASHINGTON — A trio of House Democrats introduced legislation Wednesday that would extend the savings garnered by the federal government from negotiating prescription drug prices to all who are covered by private health plans. The bill, called the Lowering Drug... Read More

WASHINGTON — Is it a “win for patients” or legislation that just doesn’t go far enough to ensure true transparency around drug and other health care related pricing? That, in essence, was the question that divided members along party lines... Read More