22 states — not Pa. — sue Trump administration over guidelines that could hamper Pitt, CMU research
The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine on Monday touted new Alzheimer’s disease research that could contribute to diagnosing the disease and starting treatment of it before it enters its final stage, which ends in death. More than 12 federal grants helped defray the cost of the research. Similar federal...
New strain of bird flu detected in a Nevada dairy worker, CDC says
NEW YORK — A dairy worker in Nevada was infected with a new type of bird flu that’s different from the version that has been spreading in U.S. herds since last year, federal health officials said Monday. The illness was considered mild. The person’s main symptom was eye redness and...
New Alzheimer’s test developed at Pitt could provide earlier detection
Small amounts of the protein found in those with Alzheimer’s disease can be detected years before it shows up in brain scans of those with the disease, new research published Monday in Nature Medicine found. The test was developed at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. “Our test identifies...
UPMC to require masks again as flu, viruses surge in region
Update: On Wednesday, UPMC said it a statement it is recommending, rather than requiring, masks in its facilities. This is a departure from Monday’s statement that masks were required. People visiting UPMC hospitals and health care offices should plan on wearing a mask, effective Wednesday. Affiliates of the Pittsburgh-based health...
HIV infections could jump over 6 times if U.S. support is dropped and not replaced, UNAIDS chief says
LONDON — The head of the U.N. AIDS agency said Monday the number of new HIV infections could jump more than six times by 2029 if American support of the biggest AIDS program is dropped, warning that millions of people could die and more resistant strains of the disease could...
New Hampshire man is 2nd person known to be living with a pig kidney
A New Hampshire man fought for the chance at a pig kidney transplant, spending months getting into good enough shape to be part of a small pilot study of a highly experimental treatment. His effort paid off: Tim Andrews, 66, is only the second person known to be living with...
U.S. officials advise travelers to be careful in Uganda because of Ebola
NEW YORK — U.S. health officials on Wednesday urged Americans traveling to Uganda to take precautions because of an Ebola outbreak — and said they are helping Ugandan health officials respond to the threat. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention travel alert does not call on travelers to steer...
‘Height of the season’: Flu cases surge in Western Pa.
Flu cases are spiking in Western Pennsylvania as the region’s doctors treat high numbers of patients stricken with the seasonal respiratory illness. Dr. Amy Crawford-Faucher, a family physician and chair of the Allegheny Health Network Primary Care Institute, said Wednesday she’s seen a “significant increase” in the number of people...
VA nurses are in short supply. Unions say Trump’s deferred resignation plan could make things worse
For the federal government’s largest group of employees — nurses caring for military veterans through the Department of Veterans Affairs — the Trump administration’s deferred resignation offer and its looming Thursday deadline come amid longstanding staffing shortages, deemed severe at more than half of all facilities. Unions are discouraging nurses...
Argentina leaves World Health Organization in nod to Trump
Argentina announced on Wednesday that it will leave the World Health Organization as President Javier Milei seeks to align his policies with those of Donald Trump in the U.S. Chief spokesman Manuel Adorni cited “deep differences” between Milei’s government and the WHO on health policy, including the recommendations during the...
Families and doctors sue over Trump’s order to halt funding for gender-affirming care
A group of families with transgender children filed a lawsuit Tuesday over President Donald Trump’s executive order to halt federal support for gender-affirming health care for transgender people under age 19. PFLAG, a national group for family of LGBTQ+ people, and GLMA, a doctors organization, are also plaintiffs in the...
100K eggs stolen from central Pa. supplier
A hundred thousand eggs were stolen Saturday from an organic supplier in Franklin County amid skyrocketing prices stemming from an avian flu outbreak, Pennsylvania State Police said. The eggs were swiped from the back of a distribution trailer around 8:40 p.m. at the Pete & Gerry’s Organics warehouse on Commerce...
New York attorney general tells hospitals to continue transgender care after Trump’s executive order
NEW YORK — New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday told hospitals that they would be violating state law if they stop offering gender-affirming care for people under age 19 in response to an executive order from President Donald Trump aimed at curtailing federal funding for such treatments. In...
How to deal with fresh health insurance deductibles in the new year
Many Americans with high-deductible health insurance plans face a cold reality at the start of every year. Those deductibles will have to be paid before most coverage starts. That can mean thousands of dollars in fresh health care bills. Such financial hits can be brutal for patients with cancer or...
Newly approved painkiller Journavx is ‘potentially groundbreaking’
A new painkiller that is said to be free of addiction risks may be transformative for treatment of acute pain, according to local medical professionals. “I think it could be a potentially groundbreaking medication,” said Dr. Richard Gao, anesthesiologist and chronic pain physician with Allegheny Health Network. “I definitely think...
Longtime physical therapy business in Scottdale sold to regional group
George Hoffman can only speculate about how a new ownership group will run his former business, Scottdale Rehabilitation. But he’s pretty sure about one thing — they won’t be making deals with patients where payment comes in the form of a pie or cake. “My wife used to make fun...
Health data disappears as Trump administration targets ‘gender ideology’
Public health data disappeared from websites, entire webpages went blank and employees erased pronouns from email signatures Friday as federal agencies scrambled to comply with a directive tied to President Donald Trump’s order rolling back protections for transgender people. The Office of Personnel Management directed agency heads to strip “gender...
RFK Jr. kept asking to see the science that vaccines were safe. After he saw it, he dismissed it
WASHINGTON — The man who hopes to be President Donald Trump’s health secretary repeatedly asked to see “data” or “science” showing vaccines are safe — but when an influential Republican senator did so, he dismissed it. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spent two days this week insisting to senators that he’s...
FDA approves painkiller designed to eliminate the risk of addiction associated with opioids
WASHINGTON — Federal officials on Thursday approved a new type of pain pill designed to eliminate the risks of addiction and overdose associated with opioid medications like Vicodin and OxyContin. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it approved Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ Journavx for short-term pain that often follows surgery or...
The tuberculosis outbreak in Kansas is alarming. It’s not the biggest in U.S. history though, CDC says
A yearlong outbreak of tuberculosis in the Kansas City, Kansas, area has taken local experts aback, even if it does not appear to be the largest outbreak of the disease in U.S. history as a state health official claimed last week. “We would expect to see a handful of cases...
Pa.’s 1st avian flu case reported at Lehigh County farm, agriculture department says
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture on Monday announced this year’s first positive case in the state of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in domestic poultry. The positive samples were detected in a 50,000-bird layer chicken flock on a commercial poultry farm in Lehigh County, the department said. The farm and commercial...
CDC ordered to stop working with WHO immediately, upending expectations of an extended withdrawal
NEW YORK — U.S. public health officials have been told to stop working with the World Health Organization, effective immediately. A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official, John Nkengasong, sent a memo to senior leaders at the agency on Sunday night telling them that all agency staff who...
The CIA believes covid most likely originated from a lab but has low confidence in its own finding
WASHINGTON — The CIA now believes the virus responsible for the covid-19 pandemic most likely originated from a laboratory, according to an assessment that points the finger at China even while acknowledging that the spy agency has “low confidence” in its own conclusion. The finding is not the result of...
The only person in the world with a functioning pig organ is thriving after a record 2 months
An Alabama woman passed a major milestone Saturday to become the longest living recipient of a pig organ transplant — healthy and full of energy with her new kidney for 61 days and counting. “I’m superwoman,” Towana Looney told The Associated Press, laughing about outpacing family members on long walks...
National reproductive health care resource website goes dark
When Elizabeth Ringstad found out that the national reproductive health care resource website www.reproductiverights.gov had been taken down, she felt fear. “I feel like taking down such a major research tool for women is kind of removing our ability to educate ourselves on our bodies and our rights,” said Ringstad,...
