Mifepristone access is coming before the U.S. Supreme Court. How safe is this abortion pill?
The U.S. Supreme Court will take up a case Tuesday that could impact how women get access to mifepristone, one of the two pills used in the most common type of abortion in the nation. The central dispute in the case is whether the Food and Drug Administration overlooked serious...
U.S. surgeons transplant a gene-edited pig kidney into a patient for the first time
NEW YORK — Doctors in Boston have transplanted a pig kidney into a 62-year-old patient, the latest experiment in the quest to use animal organs in humans. Massachusetts General Hospital said Thursday that it’s the first time a genetically modified pig kidney has been transplanted into a living person. Previously,...
Veterinary Emergency Group Pittsburgh opens 24/7 hospital in East Liberty
If your pet needs to stay overnight for medical care, there is a place where you can find accommodations to be with your furry friend right there in the hospital — for no additional charge. “Pet parents are welcome to stay,” said Allison Faust, medical director for Veterinary Emergency Group...
England is limiting gender transitions for youths. U.S. legislators are watching
Legislators in at least two U.S. states are citing a recent decision in England to restrict gender transitions for young people as support for their own related proposals. They weren’t the first to turn to other countries, notably in Europe, for policy and research ideas. Lawmakers across the U.S., where...
Spring sniffles: Tree pollen season is a little early this year, allergists say
When Dr. Bob Gorby of Westmoreland Allergy and Asthma Associates in Greensburg notices the tree in his home’s backyard starting to bud, he knows it’s tree pollen season. “It’s early this year a little bit,” he said. “Tree pollen can come out as early as late February, but it’s very...
More than 6 in 10 U.S. abortions in 2023 were done by medication — a significant jump since 2020
More than six in 10 of the abortions in the United States last year were done through medication, up from 53% in 2020, new research shows. The Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights, said about 642,700 medication abortions took place in the first full calendar year after...
EPA bans asbestos, a deadly carcinogen still in use decades after a partial ban was enacted
WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday announced a comprehensive ban on asbestos, a carcinogen that kills tens of thousands of Americans every year but is still used in some chlorine bleach, brake pads and other products. The final rule marks a major expansion of EPA regulation under a...
Highmark posts $533M profit in 2023, reversing dismal performance in 2022
Call it a reversal of fortune. After losing money in 2022, Pittsburgh’s Highmark Health rebounded last year. The health insurance giant posted net income of $533 million even as it grappled with operating losses at its Pittsburgh-area hospitals. That compares with a $346 million loss in 2022, due largely to...
UPMC pledges seamless transition as dental center closes
State Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Squirrel Hill, says UPMC has assured him that dental patients transferred from its soon-to-close Montefiore center “will be easily absorbed” into the University of Pittsburgh Dental School clinic without undue treatment delays. He said the hospital system said most employees from the Montefiore operation have been...
Hempfield family fighting son’s leukemia encourages people to join transplant registry
When Lucas James’ mom came to pick him up from school two years ago, Lucas knew something was terribly wrong. “I had on-and-off fevers, and we ended up having to do a blood test,” said Lucas, 14. “I was at school when my mom had gotten notified. “She was so...
‘This is my dream come true,’ says Pitt med student, a Fox Chapel native, on Match Day
Medical student Rachel Kann said she couldn’t be happier to find out she’ll be staying in Pittsburgh. “This is my dream come true. … I’m just so grateful to have gotten the chance to stay in this amazing city for seven more years and practice here,” Kann said. A Fox...
A new $16,000 postpartum depression drug is here. How will insurers handle it?
A much-awaited treatment for postpartum depression, zuranolone, hit the market in December, promising an accessible and fast-acting medication for a debilitating illness. But most private health insurers have yet to publish criteria for when they will cover it, according to a new analysis of insurance policies. The lack of guidance...
Texas man who used an iron long for decades after contracting polio as a child dies at 78Video
DALLAS — A Texas man who spent most of his 78 years using an iron lung chamber and built a large following on social media, recounting his life from contracting polio in the 1940s to earning a law degree, has died. Paul Alexander died Monday at a Dallas hospital, said...
New AI tools can record your medical appointment or draft a message from your doctor
Don’t be surprised if your doctors start writing you overly friendly messages. They could be getting some help from artificial intelligence. New AI tools are helping doctors communicate with their patients, some by answering messages and others by taking notes during exams. It’s been 15 months since OpenAI released ChatGPT....
Georgia restricted transgender care for youth in 2023. Now Republicans are seeking an outright ban
ATLANTA — A year ago, Georgia lawmakers said they were striking a balance when they banned most gender-affirming surgeries and hormone replacement therapies for transgender people under 18, but let doctors continue prescribing puberty blockers and let minors then receiving hormone replacement therapies continue. Now state Sen. Ben Watson, the...
Rep. Frankel seeks details about imminent closure of UPMC Montefiore dental center
A UPMC decision to close its Montefiore dental center has state Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Squirrel Hill, worried about how many patients will be displaced and the potential impact on their care. Frankel sought an explanation for the closure in a letter sent Friday to UPMC, a copy of which was...
Understanding what’s driving long covid is still largely a mystery to doctors
For Sean Carey, long covid proved fatal. Carey contracted an early strain of covid in July 2020 when he and his wife, Meghan, lived in Daytona Beach, Fla. “He had pain that was too inhumane to live with,” his wife said. “He had tremors that were like lightning bolts going...
Handling mental illness is complicated at all levels of criminal justice system
As Terrance Kurhansky’s case made its way through Pennsylvania’s criminal justice system, it became clear to his attorney and the presiding judge that their options were limited, and none of them was ideal. Kurhansky, 83, was charged in 2019 with attempting to murder his neighbor. Police said he used a...
‘I want to live’: Long covid patients battle debilitating symptoms in Western Pa.
Covid-19 stole Lisa Merlo’s lungs, limbs — and nearly her life. But it wasn’t done. The 57-year-old West Deer resident continues to cope with the disease’s latest attack on her body: long covid. Merlo said she was told she had a 20% chance of living after a covid diagnosis in...
Lead-tainted cinnamon has been recalled. Here’s what you should know
Several U.S. discount retailers recalled packages of ground cinnamon after federal health officials warned that they were contaminated with high levels of lead. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a safety alert for six brands of cinnamon, including those sold at Dollar Tree and Family Dollar stores. The move...
Insurer delays and denials hamper patients seeking at-home breathing machines
Lou Gehrig’s disease took away Grace Armant’s ability to speak, but the 84-year-old still has plenty to say about her insurance. UnitedHealthcare has rejected several requests from her doctors for coverage of a machine Armant needs to breathe as she deals with the fatal illness. “They are no good,” Armant...
Weight-loss drugs like Wegovy are meant for long-term use. Some patients want to stop
Millions of Americans who have dropped pounds and boosted their health using popular obesity drugs like Wegovy are facing a new dilemma: What happens if they stop taking them? Many worry, rightly, that they’ll regain weight and revert to old habits. In clinical trials, patients who paused the drugs put...
‘Burning’ millions of dollars, Mutual Aid ambulance looks to communities it serves to boost revenue
Mutual Aid ambulance is hoping to match the success of other emergency medical services in the region as it turns to the communities it serves to boost revenue. Ken Bacha, director of community outreach, hasn’t seen any checkbooks open yet, but he hopes that providing the municipalities that Mutual Aid...
Alabama legislation to protect IVF providers moves toward final approval
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama lawmakers racing to restart in vitro fertilization services in the state are set to weigh final approval for legislation shielding providers from the fallout of a court ruling that equated frozen embryos to children. The state Senate and House will consider identical bills Wednesday that would...
Free at-home covid test mail program will end Friday
Get your orders in while you can — the federal free covid test program is shutting down again at the end of the week. The program, run through the U.S. Department of Health and the United States Postal Service, has provided free at-home covid-19 rapid tests in sets of four...
