Health

AUSTIN, Texas — A federal judge overturned Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's executive order banning mask mandates in public schools on Wednesday, freeing local officials to set their own masking orders once again. U.S. District Court Judge Lee Yeakel ruled Texas... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden, whose son Beau was an Iraq war veteran, is using his first Veterans Day in office to announce an effort to better understand, treat and identify medical conditions suffered by troops deployed to toxic... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Mission Act was launched in 2019 to protect veterans' access to health care, but now health policy experts are finding that the legislation may actually be preventing access. “Veterans who need to go to [into] the community... Read More

WASHINGTON — Pfizer and BioNTech SE asked the Food and Drug Administration Tuesday to allow boosters of its COVID-19 vaccine for anyone 18 or older. Currently, COVID-19 booster shots are only available to older Americans and those with underlying health... Read More

WASHINGTON — During a floor speech last week, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., urged the Senate to pass legislation which would eliminate the “fall back” of daylight savings time which happens each November.  “Beyond convenience, this really is a matter of... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration rolled out a new COVID-19 vaccine mandate Thursday morning, giving large companies until Jan. 4 to ensure that their workforces are fully vaccinated. In a conference call with reporters Wednesday night, a senior administration official... Read More

LONDON (AP) — Britain granted conditional authorization on Thursday to the only pill shown to successfully treat COVID-19 so far. It is the first country to OK the treatment from drugmaker Merck, although it wasn't immediately clear how quickly the... Read More

WASHINGTON — The World Health Organization recently hosted the third in a series of webinars on rural health equity and policies aimed at developing, attracting, and retaining health workers in rural and remote areas.  “Four out of five of the... Read More

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Members of the Ohio House have introduced a bill which would ban transgender kids under 18 from receiving gender transition treatments, even with parental consent.  “Studies consistently demonstrate that the vast majority of children who are gender... Read More

WASHINGTON — The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in domestic violence, and now legislators like Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., who is a survivor of domestic violence, are pushing to advance policies to end the abuse.  “We have seen... Read More

ATLANTA — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday night gave its formal approval for children ages 5-11 to receive Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.  CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky signed off on the plan just hours after an advisory... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration on Friday authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use in children 5 to 11. “As a mother and a physician, I know that parents, caregivers, school staff, and children have been waiting... Read More

WASHINGTON — A study funded by the Research Program for Media, Communication, and Society at the School of Communication and Culture at Aarhus University in Denmark reveals how watching horror films may have helped individuals cope and prepare for the... Read More

WASHINGTON — The National Institutes of Health recently awarded a $4 million grant to Johns Hopkins Medicine for a three-year clinical trial to examine if psilocybin-assisted psychotherapies can help people quit smoking. “Psychedelic treatments ... when properly applied can help... Read More

WASHINGTON — When Khrista Messinger, a 46-year-old who works for the City of Charleston, W.Va., requested time off from work to seek treatment for her substance abuse addiction she was told by her employer that she needed to use her... Read More

Tumbling COVID-19 case counts have some schools around the U.S. considering relaxing their mask rules, but deaths nationally have been ticking up over the past few weeks, some rural hospitals are showing signs of strain, and cold weather is setting... Read More

WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday said Americans who got either the Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccine can now get a COVID-19 booster, and also say that those eligible for a booster don’t have to get... Read More

This week, the Environmental Protection Agency released a new roadmap to accelerate efforts to protect Americans from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a class of toxic chemicals found in food packaging and other common commercial products that can cause severe health... Read More

It was only nine years ago that researchers discovered a method for editing human genes using a specialized technology called the CRISPR-Cas9 tool.   CRISPR-Cas9 enables geneticists and medical researchers to edit parts of the genome by removing, adding or altering... Read More

LOS ANGELES - A new study from researchers from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center appears to confirm what many have long argued: That a “broken heart” really can lead to long-term heart injury. “We know from other studies the heart-brain connection is... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Children age 5 to 11 will soon be able to get a COVID-19 shot at their pediatrician's office, local pharmacy and potentially even their school, the White House said Wednesday as it detailed plans for the expected... Read More

Scientists temporarily attached a pig's kidney to a human body and watched it begin to work, a small step in the decades-long quest to one day use animal organs for life-saving transplants. Pigs have been the most recent research focus... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than six weeks after promising a new vaccination-or-testing rule covering the millions of Americans at companies with 100 or more workers, President Joe Biden's most aggressive move yet to combat the COVID-19 pandemic is almost ready... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal regulators are expected to authorize the mixing and matching of COVID-19 booster shots this week in an effort to provide flexibility for those seeking to maintain protection against the coronavirus. The upcoming announcement by the Food... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health advisers on Friday tackled who should get boosters of Johnson & Johnson's single-shot COVID-19 vaccine and when — and whether using a competing brand for the second dose might provide better protection. The push for... Read More

U.S. health advisers said Thursday that some Americans who received Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine should get a half-dose booster to bolster protection against the virus. The panel of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously to recommend a booster... Read More

STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Nurses around the U.S. are getting burned out by the COVID-19 crisis and quitting, yet applications to nursing schools are rising, driven by what educators say are young people who see the global emergency as an... Read More

NEW YORK (AP) — Food companies are coming under renewed pressure to use less salt after U.S. regulators spelled out long-awaited guidelines aimed at reducing sodium levels in dozens of foods including condiments, cereals, french fries and potato chips. The... Read More

WASHINGTON — New data presented by researchers from Editas Medicine, a leading genome editing company, reveals that gene editing treatments are not only safe in humans, but may hold promise of treating a rare retinal disease that leads to blindness.... Read More

WASHINGTON — The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted veterans' access to food, leading to greater food insecurity, and according to officials from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, telehealth is now helping to combat the issue.  “The COVID-19 pandemic certainly... Read More