Health

WASHINGTON — House Republicans put more pressure on social media companies Thursday by introducing a bill that would block the Biden administration from trying to remove certain kinds of information from their websites. Republicans who introduced the bill said they... Read More

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul used her first State of the State address since being elected to a full four-year term in November 2022 to vow to dramatically change the state’s approach to dealing with mental health... Read More

WASHINGTON — Being hospitalized with an infection raised the risk of patients’ subsequent dementia diagnosis, according to a new report. For the purpose of the study, which was published in JAMA Network Open, researchers followed the stories of nearly 16,000... Read More

WASHINGTON — Every five years, the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services release their Dietary Guidelines for Americans with much fanfare, followed, no doubt, by parents across the United States urging their children to eat their peas... Read More

NEW YORK — More than 7,000 nurses at Mount Sinai Medical Center and Montefiore Medical Center walked off the job this morning after talks to avert a strike fell apart overnight. The nurses are seeking better wages and working conditions.... Read More

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the state’s ban on abortion six weeks into a pregnancy, ruling the restriction violates the state constitution’s right to privacy. The 3-2 ruling comes nearly two years after... Read More

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Democratic Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania said Thursday that he will undergo surgery for prostate cancer but is expected to make a full recovery. Casey, 62, revealed his diagnosis via Twitter Thursday morning. “While this news came... Read More

WASHINGTON — An abortion pill previously available only from a certified doctor, clinic or two online pharmacies will soon be obtainable at local pharmacies with a prescription, the Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday. Mifepristone is the first of two... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration’s contentious approval of a questionable Alzheimer’s drug took another hit Thursday as congressional investigators called the process “rife with irregularities.” The 18-month investigation by two House committees detailed “atypical collaboration” between FDA... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Agriculture Department’s Animal and Plant Inspection Service is developing new tests and tools to identify and track the coronavirus and its variants in wild and domestic animals. The initiative, part of a $300 million provision in the... Read More

WASHINGTON — A bill introduced in the Senate last week would provide grants to organizations, including abortion funding, to offset the state-imposed costs on women who now need to travel to meet their reproductive health needs. The bill, introduced by... Read More

WASHINGTON — Three months after stopping the practice, the Biden administration is once again making free COVID-19 tests available to all U.S. households. The goal, administration officials said, is to stop a potential surge in COVID-19 cases heading into winter.... Read More

Rare diseases are, by definition, uncommon. For a disease to qualify as rare, it must affect fewer than 200,000 Americans — or less than .06% of the U.S. population. While the odds of being diagnosed with any individual rare disease... Read More

The incidence rate of infective endocarditis — a rare but often fatal inflammation of the heart valves — among patients with cocaine use disorder or opioid use disorder increased from 2011 to 2022, with the steepest increase occurring from 2021... Read More

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is seeking to update federal regulations that govern opioid use disorder treatment to allow those struggling with addiction to take home doses of methadone and use telehealth to initiate buprenorphine at opioid... Read More

The Biden administration has released a new rule that will provide and expand access to quality health care options for millions of consumers. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the proposal, known as the 2024 Notice of... Read More

Individuals with alcohol use disorder are less likely to receive antivirals for hepatitis C, despite current guidelines recommending antiviral treatment regardless of alcohol use, according to a new study supported by the National Institutes of Health.Direct-acting antiviral treatment is highly... Read More

WASHINGTON — Deep flaws in the nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic gave a glimpse into how to prepare for the next infectious outbreak, according to a report adopted Wednesday by a congressional panel. The hearing of the House Select... Read More

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday unanimously ratified newly sworn-in Mayor Karen Bass’ declaration of an emergency in regard to homelessness. Bass began her first day in office by declaring a state of emergency, vowing to move swiftly to... Read More

Areas of the genome related to brain development harbor variants that may account for behavioral differences among different dog lineages, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health. The study, funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute, was... Read More

TOKYO — Japanese Pharma firm Takeda has agreed to pay $4 billion in cash for a single drug invented by Nimbus Therapeutics, a Boston, Massachusetts-based biotechnology company. The drug Takeda is buying (NDI-034858) blocks selective allosteric tyrosine kinase 2 (also... Read More

Grant Wahl, the American soccer journalist who died suddenly last week at the World Cup in Qatar, had a rupture in a blood vessel leading from the heart, his family announced Wednesday. An autopsy conducted after his body was returned... Read More

WASHINGTON — A panel of advisors to the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday declined to recommend approval of a new heart drug created by biotech firm Cytokinetics, finding the benefits of the drug do not outweigh its risks. The... Read More

ST. LOUIS — Exercise and mindfulness training under the supervision of coaches may have a wealth of benefits, but according to a new study, boosting cognitive performance isn’t one of them. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St.... Read More

Moderna’s stock soared Tuesday after the COVID-19 vaccine maker detailed progress in developing a preventive shot for a deadly form of skin cancer. The company said a possible melanoma vaccine it is studying with pharmaceutical giant Merck fared well in... Read More

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Most registered voters in Tennessee want exceptions for rape or incest in the state's sweeping abortion ban, but they largely don't know the specifics of what's in the law as it stands today, according to new Vanderbilt... Read More

GENEVA, Switzerland — Bacteria responsible for common infections are showing an increasing resistance to the antibiotics used to treat those infections, a new report from the World Health Organization says. In addition, the report, based on data collected in 87... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday amended its emergency use authorizations for the updated (bivalent) Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines, saying the shots are safe to administer to children as young as 6 months old. “More children... Read More

Throughout the open enrollment period that is now drawing to a close, Medicare-eligible beneficiaries have had the option to enroll in an affordable, high-quality and comprehensive health care program known as Medicare Advantage, sometimes also called Medicare Part C.  Medicare... Read More

CINCINNATI — A program that combines computer-based and driving simulator training appears to reduce the proportion of automobile crashes and near crashes among teens with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, according to a small study conducted at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.... Read More