Health

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday updated its regulations on mammography in an effort to strengthen the agency’s oversight and detect and treat breast cancer earlier. The rule that went into effect March 9 amended regulations... Read More

WASHINGTON — The United States supports an international effort to reach an accord based on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, but will resist an agreement that in any way undermines U.S. sovereignty or national security, the State Department said... Read More

WASHINGTON — Suspicions shifted sharply Wednesday at a congressional hearing toward a lab leak as the source of the COVID-19 pandemic. The bigger question confronted by the House Oversight and Accountability subcommittee was what can be done to stop the... Read More

WASHINGTON — Firefighters from across the nation gathered for a rally at the U.S. Capitol Tuesday to urge Congress to fund the research and development of PFAS-free protective gear and fire extinguishing equipment. “We need to get these toxic carcinogens... Read More

WASHINGTON — A temperature-stable, experimental tuberculosis vaccine has been found safe and effective in a clinical phase 1 trial involving healthy adults conducted by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. A non-temperature stable form of the candidate previously... Read More

WASHINGTON — When the Inflation Reduction Act became law last year, it empowered the Health and Human Services secretary, for the first time ever, to begin negotiating certain prescription drug prices with drug manufacturers. The prices would go into effect... Read More

WASHINGTON — Judith Heumann, who spent decades championing the rights of disabled people from inside and outside of the system, died on Saturday at 75. No cause was given in the announcement that was posted on her website. Born on... Read More

WASHINGTON — In yet another sign that the COVID crisis is largely over, DC Health announced Friday that it will be closing the COVID Centers it opened around the city during the pandemic on Friday, March 31. The decision to... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Dept. of Veterans Affairs is relaxing COVID-era masking rules at its medical facilities in an attempt, it says, to better accommodate individual preferences. Moving forward, the department said it will base its masking guidelines on the Veterans... Read More

WASHINGTON — “It is strange … to see Elizabeth Warren and Mitt Romney promoting the same thing,” Sen. Romney, R-Utah, quipped at an advocacy event Wednesday night in the Senate Hart building. His pledge to the late Sen. Orrin Hatch,... Read More

WASHINGTON — Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Mike Braun, R-Ind., reintroduced a trio of bills Wednesday aimed at reforming how the Food and Drug Administration approves and manages opioid medications. “In the last year, more than 106,000 Americans and 1,400... Read More

WASHINGTON — A panel of advisors to the Food and Drug Administration narrowly voted on Tuesday to endorse an experimental vaccine from Pfizer to protect older adults against the highly contagious lower respiratory tract ailment RSV. The advisors voted 7-4... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration has approved the first combination test for flu and COVID-19 that can be used at home. The test from Lucira Health, which can be purchased without a prescription, can detect influenza A and... Read More

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Eli Lilly and Company said Wednesday that it is reducing the price of its most commonly prescribed insulins by as much as 70% and expanding a program that caps the monthly out-of-pocket cost for patients at $35.... Read More

WASHINGTON — The nation’s capital is the seventh worst place to get a good night's sleep in the United States, but it's far ahead of other East Coast cities, including Boston, New York, Miami and Philadelphia, according to a new... Read More

Five years ago, scientist He Jiankui shocked his peers and the world with claims that he created the first genetically edited babies. Now, after serving three years in a Chinese prison for practicing medicine without a license, he faces obstacles and... Read More

DENVER — About a year after actor Bruce Willis announced he would step away from acting, his family announced he’s been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia.  Willis was first diagnosed with aphasia, a brain disorder that leads to speaking, reading and... Read More

HNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — An 11-year-old girl in Cambodia has died from bird flu in the country's first known human H5N1 infection since 2014, health officials said. Bird flu, also known as avian influenza, normally spreads in poultry and... Read More

WASHINGTON — Researchers using a device that stimulates the spinal cord said they successfully restored hand mobility in two stroke patients, allowing them to perform daily life activities like using a fork to eat a meal.While the study was admittedly... Read More

BOISE, Idaho — A pair of Republican lawmakers in the Idaho state Legislature have introduced a bill that would make the administering of mRNA vaccines, such as the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, a crime. "Notwithstanding any other provision of... Read More

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg wants the nation’s freight railroads to immediately act to improve safety while regulators try to strengthen safety rules in the wake of a fiery derailment in Ohio that forced evacuations when toxic chemicals were released and... Read More

WASHINGTON — Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., checked himself into the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, on Wednesday night to receive treatment for clinical depression, his office said Thursday. The senator, who suffered a near-fatal stroke while... Read More

ITASCA, Ill. — A long-overdue update to guidelines on how to treat childhood and adolescent obesity from the nation’s largest professional association of pediatricians is getting extensive blowback from treatment providers. Though the American Academy of Pediatrics maintains obesity in... Read More

WASHINGTON — The National Institutes of Health has begun a multi-state clinical trial evaluating an “investigational antiviral” for the treatment of adults hospitalized with COVID-19.  The treatment, known as S-217622 or ensitrelvir fumaric acid, was developed in Japan by Hokkaido... Read More

ITASCA, Ill. — The American Academy of Pediatrics has thrown its endorsement behind updated guidelines for childhood and adolescent immunization released this past week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The “Recommended Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Schedule” is... Read More

The pandemic took a harsh toll on U.S. teen girls’ mental health, with almost 60% reporting feelings of persistent sadness or hopelessness, according to a government survey released Monday that bolsters earlier data. Sexual violence, suicidal thoughts, suicidal behavior and... Read More

WASHINGTON — In the first year of the pandemic, more than $222 billion was spent on infectious and parasitic diseases, a growth of $83.3 billion from 2019, according to estimates released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.  The nearly 60%... Read More

The coolest thing on social media these days may be celebrities and regular folks plunging into frigid water or taking ice baths. The touted benefits include improved mood, more energy, weight loss and reduced inflammation, but the science supporting some... Read More

WASHINGTON — A judge in Washington, D.C., this week suggested a new legal strategy to revive a federal right to abortion. U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said the 13th Amendment could be interpreted to mean women have a constitutional... Read More

WASHINGTON — The House on Wednesday voted largely along party lines to repeal the vaccine mandate on international visitors flying to the United States. The final tally was 227 to 201, with six members not voting. Specifically, the bill introduced... Read More