Only 26% of Americans say they get at least eight hours of sleep, new Gallup poll says
NEW YORK — If you’re feeling — YAWN — sleepy or tired while you read this and wish you could get some more shut-eye, you’re not alone. A majority of Americans say they would feel better if they could have more sleep, according to a new poll. But in the...
Ex-NBA player scores victory with Kentucky bill to expand coverage for stuttering treatment
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Former basketball star Michael Kidd-Gilchrist scored a victory Thursday as a leading advocate for a new Kentucky law that will expand insurance coverage for people seeking treatment for stuttering. Kidd-Gilchrist, who played on a national championship team at the University of Kentucky and spent several years playing...
Job demand, good pay spur growth in nursing programs
Chelsey Strickland grew up watching her single mom work long shifts as a nurse at UPMC St. Margaret hospital to provide for her family. That’s what led the Tarentum resident to enroll in nursing school at 25, despite, two years earlier, having earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the...
Company that made millions of defective sleep apnea machines ordered to overhaul manufacturing
WASHINGTON — The company responsible for a global recall of sleep apnea machines will be barred from resuming production at U.S. facilities until it meets a number of safety requirements, under a long-awaited settlement announced Tuesday by federal officials. Philips will be required to overhaul its manufacturing and quality control...
Wisconsin governor vetoes Republican-backed bill targeting PFAS chemicals
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers vetoed a Republican bill Tuesday that would have created grants to fight pollution from “forever chemicals” and took the unusual step of calling the GOP-controlled budget committee into meeting to approve spending $125 million to deal with contamination. Evers has only called a...
New EPA rule says 218 U.S. chemical plants must reduce toxic emissions that are likely to cause cancer
WASHINGTON — More than 200 chemical plants nationwide will be required to reduce toxic emissions that are likely to cause cancer under a new rule issued Tuesday by the Environmental Protection Agency. The rule advances President Joe Biden’s commitment to environmental justice by delivering critical health protections for communities burdened...
Many cancer drugs remain unproven 5 years after accelerated approval, a study finds
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s accelerated approval program is meant to give patients early access to promising drugs. But how often do these drugs actually improve or extend patients’ lives? In a new study, researchers found that most cancer drugs granted accelerated approval do not demonstrate such benefits within...
2 women who say abortion restrictions put them in medical peril feel compelled to campaign for Biden
WASHINGTON — A Texas woman who went into premature labor, developed sepsis and nearly died and a Louisiana woman who said restrictive abortion laws prevented her from getting medical help for a miscarriage are now campaigning for President Joe Biden as the Democrat highlights how women’s health is being affected...
Victims of Montana asbestos pollution that killed hundreds take Warren Buffett’s railroad to court
LIBBY, Mont. — Paul Resch remembers playing baseball as a kid on a field constructed from asbestos-tainted vermiculite, mere yards from railroad tracks where trains kicked up clouds of dust as they hauled the contaminated material from a mountaintop mine through the northwestern Montana town of Libby. He liked to...
West Newton heart transplant recipient honored at Donate Life Month ceremony
Madison resident Darcy Franicola regularly volunteers to help the Madison Volunteer Fire Company. She keeps active with her church, tends her garden and was able to go on vacation to Myrtle Beach in 2021. She’s been able to stay busy, stay involved, give back to her community — and stay...
Franklin Regional set to host public health, wellness fair
The Franklin Regional School District has a health services department. But when district officials began discussing ideas for a health and wellness fair, they decided to expand beyond the student body. The district’s April 29 community health fair will be open to the public, bringing more than 40 local health...
Competition ramps up with Allegheny General Hospital’s proposed $1B expansion
Western Pennsylvania’s two health care giants are racing to spend billions on new facilities, renovations and construction. But rivals UPMC and Allegheny Health Network say their expansion is not a contest but rather a responsibility to meet patient needs. AHN’s move to embark on a $1 billion renovation and expansion...
ALS drug will be pulled from U.S. market after study showed patients didn’t benefit
WASHINGTON — The maker of a drug for Lou Gehrig’s disease that recently failed in a large study said Thursday it will pull the medicine from the market, acknowledging it didn’t help patients with the deadly neurological condition. Amylyx Pharmaceuticals announced it will voluntarily halt sales and marketing of the...
Testing found this recalled medicine can have a deadly bacterial contamination
MIAMI — A drug used to treat a form of pneumonia has been recalled after testing found it might be as deadly as the infection it’s supposed to treat. AvKARE recalled one lot of Atovaquone Oral Suspension after third-party testing discovered a potential Bacillus cereus contamination in the medicine. As...
Sage’s Army services evolve with changing substance abuse challenges
When Carmen Capozzi founded Sage’s Army in 2012, his phone rang off the hook every day. “From the day we started, it was my (phone) number,” Capozzi said. “We weren’t funded then — it was just volunteers.” After the death of his son, Sage, from a heroin overdose, Capozzi felt...
As Roe v. Wade fell, teenage girls formed a mock government in ‘Girls State’Video
NEW YORK — In the summer of 2022, days before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, some 500 high school girls gathered in Missouri for a weeklong mock government camp in which they elected their own governor and seated an all-female Supreme Court that would rule on their own...
Lawsuit seeks to force ban on menthol cigarettes after months of delays by Biden administration
WASHINGTON — Anti-smoking groups sued the U.S. government Tuesday over a long-awaited ban on menthol cigarettes, which has been idling at the White House for months. The lawsuit is the latest effort to force the government to ban menthols, which are disproportionately used by Black smokers and young people. It...
Hospitals must obtain written consent for pelvic and similar exams, the federal government says
Hospitals must obtain written informed consent from patients before subjecting them to pelvic exams and exams of other sensitive areas — especially if an exam will be done while the patient is unconscious, the federal government said Monday. New guidance from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services now...
Person diagnosed with bird flu after being in contact with cows in Texas
ATLANTA — A person in Texas has been diagnosed with bird flu, an infection tied to the recent discovery of the virus in dairy cows, health officials said Monday. The patient was being treated with an antiviral drug and their only reported symptom was eye redness, Texas health officials said....
A biased test kept thousands of Black people from getting a kidney transplant. It’s finally changing
PHILADELPHIA — Jazmin Evans had been waiting for a new kidney for four years when her hospital revealed shocking news: She should have been put on the transplant list in 2015 instead of 2019 — and a racially biased organ test was to blame. As upsetting as that notification was,...
Don’t look at the solar eclipse without proper eye protection, doctors warn
Though it may be tempting to sneak a peek, guidance from health officials is clear: It’s not safe to view the April 8 solar eclipse without proper eye protection. The Pittsburgh region will experience a partial solar eclipse, with 95% totality at the peak about 3:15 p.m. Those to the...
Environmental, advocacy groups react to EPA’s new asbestos regulation
For Linda Reinstein, asbestos is personal. Her husband, Alan Reinstein, died of mesothelioma, a cancer often caused by exposure to the mineral commonly used in insulations, fire retarders and other products. News of a new rule set by the Environmental Protection Agency regarding asbestos was enough to bring her to...
Highmark database error sent letters to outdated addresses, company says
People who changed their address with Highmark before August might not have received utilization letters that were sent between August and February, the Pittsburgh-based health insurer said Friday. The letters, which are required to be sent to people as part of the coverage approval process, might have been mailed to...
Walk-in mammograms available through Allegheny Health Network
Walk-in mammograms will be available this spring through Allegheny Health Network — at both the Allegheny General Hospital Breast Center and North Fayette Health + Wellness Pavilion. The campaign will run from April 1 through June 14 for women over 40 and anyone younger with a family history of breast...
Covid-19 can damage the heart, even without infecting it, study says
Covid-19 can damage your heart, even when the virus doesn’t directly infect cardiac tissue. That’s the latest from a recent study supported by the National Institutes of Health. Published in the journal Circulation, the study observed the damaged hearts of patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome associated with the virus...
