EPA bans consumer use of a toxic chemical widely used as a paint stripper but known to cause cancer
WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday it has finalized a ban on consumer uses of methylene chloride, a chemical that is widely used as a paint stripper but is known to cause liver cancer and other health problems. The EPA said its action will protect Americans from health...
ACL injuries are more common in women soccer players than men. We may learn why
An English study into the causes of knee injuries to women soccer players was launched on Tuesday. ‘Project ACL’ will focus on players in the Women’s Super League in England as part of a three-year study into an injury that is suffered by a disproportionate number of female players compared...
Philips will pay $1.1 billion to resolve U.S. lawsuits over breathing machines that expel debris
Medical device maker Philips, one of Westmoreland County’s largest employers, said Monday it will pay $1.1 billion to settle hundreds of personal injury lawsuits in the United States over its defective sleep apnea machines, which have been subject to a massive global recall. The Dutch manufacturer did not admit any...
Less alcohol, or none at all, is one path to better health
It’s wine time. Beer Thirty. Happy hour. Five o’clock somewhere. Maybe it’s also time to rethink drinking? Moderate drinking was once thought to have benefits for the heart, but better research methods have thrown cold water on that. “Drinking less is a great way to be healthier,” said Dr. Timothy...
Western Pa. hospitals juggle worsening medication shortages
Briefings on medication shortages are part of Dr. Arpit Mehta’s routine. As director of pharmacy at Allegheny General Hospital, Mehta sits down with his team for an hour every week to talk about medications the hospital may have difficulty keeping in stock. “Our list is 100-ish medications that we are...
‘One of the lucky ones’: A change in how transplant recipients are evaluated is changing the lives for many Black patients
Alva Smith received a letter with surprising news last fall: She was suddenly moving up on the kidney transplant waiting list. It wasn’t because of a change in her medical status. It was because the test used to evaluate prospective kidney transplant candidates began taking race out of the equation....
Tick-borne virus in Massachusetts ‘can invade central nervous system’
BOSTON — A confirmed case of the tick-borne Powassan virus has been reported in the Bay State, according to officials who are warning residents to take precautions against the disease. The Sharon Health Department has confirmed the town’s first case of Powassan virus — which, like Lyme disease, is transmitted...
Ashley Judd and Aloe Blacc help the White House unveil its national suicide prevention strategy
WASHINGTON— Actor Ashley Judd and singer-songwriter Aloe Blacc, who both lost loved ones to suicide, on Tuesday helped the Biden administration promote its new national strategy to prevent suicide. Judd’s mother, country star Naomi Judd, died nearly two years ago. Blacc’s frequent collaborator, Tim Bergling, died in 2018. Both were...
Planned Parenthood announces $10 million voter campaign in North Carolina for 2024 election
RALEIGH, N.C. — Abortion continues to be a key part of Democrats’ election playbook in North Carolina, which for 2024 will include what abortion-rights advocates call an unprecedented investment in get-out-the-vote efforts. Planned Parenthood affiliated groups in North Carolina announced on Thursday a $10 million campaign in the state that...
Access to mental health care may get boost from change in counselor licensing requirements
Dozens more professional counselors could be approved for associate licenses soon under a new state law meant to expand mental health care in Pennsylvania. For college students set to graduate this spring and move on to their clinical experience requirements, getting started in the field could be a quick turnaround...
U.S. births fell last year, marking an end to the late pandemic rebound, experts say
NEW YORK — U.S. births fell last year, resuming a long national slide. A little under 3.6 million babies were born in 2023, according to provisional statistics released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s about 76,000 fewer than the year before and the lowest one-year tally...
UPMC is shedding 1,000 jobs
Pittsburgh-based health care giant UPMC said Wednesday it is cutting 1,000 jobs because of post-pandemic challenges. The reductions will impact just over 1% of UPMC’s more than 100,000-member workforce systemwide, according to Paul Wood, vice president and chief communications officer. “The entire health care industry continues to face the realities...
She was too sick for a traditional transplant. So she received a pig kidney and a heart pump
NEW YORK — Doctors have transplanted a pig kidney into a New Jersey woman who was near death, part of a dramatic pair of surgeries that also stabilized her failing heart. Lisa Pisano’s combination of heart and kidney failure left her too sick to qualify for a traditional transplant, and...
American Lung Association ranks Pittsburgh metro area among nation’s most polluted
The American Lung Association ranked the Pittsburgh metro area among the worst in the nation for pollution in a report released Tuesday. The annual ‘State of the Air’ report named the Pittsburgh-New Castle-Weirton metro area one of the worst in the nation for year-round particle pollution. The Pittsburgh metro area...
Supreme Court to weigh whether doctors can provide emergency abortions in states with bans
WASHINGTON — Nearly two years after overturning the constitutional right to abortion, the Supreme Court will consider Wednesday how far state bans can extend to women in medical emergencies. The justices are weighing a case from Idaho, where a strict abortion ban went into effect shortly after the high court’s...
Get better sleep with these 5 tips from experts
Spending too many nights trying to fall asleep — or worrying there aren’t enough ZZZs in your day? You’re not alone. Nearly one-third of American adults say they don’t get the recommended seven to nine hours a night. Some of the major causes: Stress, anxiety and a culture that experts...
Study: Women hospitalized for alcohol use nearly doubled during pandemic
Hospitals admitted nearly twice as many women ages 40-64 for alcohol abuse during the pandemic. That’s the latest findings from a new study published in the journal JAMA Health Forum. Authored by researchers from multiple schools — including Atlanta’s Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University — the study...
‘Miracle’ weight-loss drugs could have reduced health disparities. Instead they got worse
LOS ANGELES — The American Heart Association calls them “game changers.” Oprah Winfrey says they’re “a gift.” Science magazine anointed them the ” 2023 Breakthrough of the Year.” Americans are most familiar with their brand names: Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, Zepbound. They are the medications that have revolutionized weight loss and...
West Virginia confirms first measles case since 2009
CHARLESTON — A West Virginia hospital has confirmed the first known case of measles in the state since 2009, health officials said Monday. The Monongalia County Health Department said WVU Medicine alerted officials Sunday that an adult patient living in the county tested positive for the viral infection. Health officials...
Vice President Harris announces final rules mandating minimum standards for nursing home staffing
The federal government is for the first time requiring nursing homes to have minimum staffing levels after the covid-19 pandemic exposed grim realities in poorly staffed facilities for older and disabled Americans. Vice President Kamala Harris announced the final rules on Monday before a trip to La Crosse, Wisconsin, where...
Biden sees a $35 price cap for insulin as a pivotal campaign issue. It’s not that clear-cut
WASHINGTON — Rarely a day goes without President Joe Biden mentioning insulin prices. He promotes a $35 price cap for the medication for Americans on Medicare — in White House speeches, campaign stops and even at non-health care events around the country. His reelection team has flooded swing-state airwaves with...
Emergency rooms refused to treat pregnant women, leaving one to miscarry in a lobby restroom
WASHINGTON — One woman miscarried in the lobby restroom of a Texas emergency room as front desk staff refused to admit her. Another woman learned that her fetus had no heartbeat at a Florida hospital, the day after a security guard turned her away from the facility. And in North...
FDA announces recall of heart pumps linked to deaths and injuries
A pair of heart devices linked to hundreds of injuries and at least 14 deaths has received the FDA’s most serious recall, the agency announced Monday. The recall comes years after surgeons say they first noticed problems with the HeartMate II and HeartMate 3, manufactured by Thoratec Corp., a subsidiary...
Living, domino donors possibilities for Indiana Township boy in need of 2nd liver transplant
Lucas Goeller is getting another shot. The 11-year-old from Indiana Township needs a new liver because the transplanted liver he received nine years ago is failing. Normally, that could mean a lengthy wait on the donation list before a suitable organ is found. Lucas already is on that list. But...
U.K. lawmakers will vote on a landmark bill to gradually phase out smoking
LONDON — The British government’s plan for a landmark smoking ban that aims to stop young people from ever smoking was expected to clear its first hurdle Tuesday despite vocal opposition from within Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party. The bill, a key policy announced by Sunak last year, would...
