Analysts say market forces will lower cost of obesity drugs
WASHINGTON — The CEO of Novo Nordisk is set to appear before a Senate panel Tuesday to be grilled on the high cost of Ozempic and Wegovy, the popular drugs used to treat diabetes and obesity. But health economists say it’s unlikely that congressional pressure will be the driving force...
U.S. will let more people take methadone at home
The first big update to U.S. methadone regulations in 20 years is poised to expand access to the life-saving drug starting next month, but experts say the addiction treatment changes could fall flat if state governments and methadone clinics fail to act. For decades, strict rules required most methadone patients...
Senate president partners with UPMC, Bayer, others to host breast cancer screenings
Because Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward is a breast cancer survivor, she said she knows the importance of screening for the disease. “When I went through my treatment, I could see firsthand some of the issues that women were facing,” said Ward, a Hempfield resident who was diagnosed with...
2 Georgia deaths are tied to abortion restrictions. Experts say abortion pills they took are safe
Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to speak about abortion Friday in Georgia, where two women’s deaths have been tied to a state law that mostly bans the procedure after roughly six weeks. Amber Thurman died after waiting 20 hours for a hospital to treat complications that occurred after she...
West Penn Hospital nurses ratify contract with 24% raises
Hundreds of nurses at Pittsburgh’s West Penn Hospital ratified a union contract Wednesday providing significant wage increases and staffing improvements. Nearly 700 nurses at the hospital in the city’s Bloomfield neighborhood voted to accept a three-year contract that will boost wages by an average of 24% and will guarantee at...
Pitt officials ask health department to investigate food poisoning claims
Social media posts suggesting that students became sick after eating undercooked food in a University of Pittsburgh eatery prompted campus officials to ask the Allegheny County Health Department to investigate the claims. The reports involved The Eatery, a food service outlet in Litchfield Towers and the largest of two dozen...
Vaccines for flu, covid available as wastewater tests show high levels of virus
Updated vaccines for the flu and covid are available, and a Pittsburgh-based infectious disease physician is encouraging the use of an over-the-counter at-home test that can differentiate between the two viruses. A nasal swab with the at-home test can help those who are ill know what virus they have as...
Allegheny Valley Hospital workers approve new contract; West Penn Hospital workers to vote Wednesday
Late contract negotiations seem to have paid off at Allegheny Valley and West Penn hospitals. Statements from SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania say new contracts either are approved or pending at both hospitals after talks over the past few days. A new contract approved Monday by employees of Allegheny Valley Hospital in...
AI technologies are giving some doctors more time for patients, improving health care
Emily Schneider uses artificial intelligence at work for six hours a day, twice a week. As a physician assistant at West Penn Hospital, it’s her job to operate Vectra, a 3D imaging system intended to capture signs of skin disease. The algorithm the machine uses is an example of artificial...
Pilot program in Pittsburgh area boosts survival odds for cardiac arrest patients
Mary Fischer didn’t know she had heart problems until she collapsed one day in early June. Fischer, 51, was in her home in Pittsburgh’s West End, slicing pepperoni in preparation for a pizza night with her boyfriend on June 11. While she was trying to plug in her pizza oven,...
Murrysville woman writes a book about grandmothers with Alzheimer’s
In her professional career, Doreen Coulson Putnam noticed when grandchildren were separated from their grandparents who had Alzheimer’s and dementia. A certified dementia practitioner, Putnam sought to create an educational resource for families to help them understand memory loss and how to include children. The Murrysville resident wrote “Sometimes Grandmamma...
Grandchildren embrace time with grandmothers who have Alzheimer’s and dementia
Kalondah Basking recalled being as young as 4 years old riding the bus with her grandmother to shop at G.C. Murphy Co. in Market Square, where her grandmother would purchase lunch meat and cheese for lunch from the deli. Summer days were spent in a tiny plastic pool her grandmother...
Atlantic City casino workers plan ad blitz to ban smoking after court rejects ban
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — A group of Atlantic City casino workers seeking to ban smoking in the gambling halls will launch an advertising campaign featuring their children in response to a judge’s rejection of a lawsuit that would have ended smoking in the nine casinos. The workers, calling themselves Casino...
Rural Pa. faces widening health services gap, but state officials think loan forgiveness could help
This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. BELLEFONTE — Health care professionals in rural Pennsylvania would be eligible for student debt relief under a bipartisan proposal aimed at addressing workforce gaps in...
Fentanyl vaccine heads for clinical trials, with goal of saving lives
A fentanyl vaccine developed by researchers at the University of Houston is expected to head to clinical trials sometime in the middle of next year, with the hope of being a groundbreaking solution to a deadly crisis. The vaccine, which has shown success in animal studies, is designed to stop...
Young girls are using anti-aging products they see on social media. The harm is more than skin deep
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — When she was in fifth grade, Scarlett Goddard Strahan started to worry about getting wrinkles. By the time she turned 10, Scarlett and her friends were spending hours on TikTok and YouTube watching influencers tout products for achieving today’s beauty aesthetic: a dewy, “glowy,” flawless complexion. Scarlett...
Boar’s Head plant linked to deadly outbreak broke food safety rules dozens of times, records showVideo
A Boar’s Head deli meat plant in Virginia tied to a deadly food poisoning outbreak repeatedly violated federal regulations, including instances of mold, insects, liquid dripping from ceilings, and meat and fat residue on walls, floors and equipment, newly released records show. Government inspectors logged 69 instances of “noncompliance” with...
Death toll now 9 in listeria outbreak tied to Boar’s Head deli meat, CDC saysVideo
At least nine people have died after being infected with listeria from Boar’s Head deli meats tied to a massive recall last month, federal health officials said Wednesday. The new food poisoning toll includes two deaths in South Carolina plus one each in Florida, New Mexico, Tennessee and New York,...
Donating a kidney is even safer now than long thought, U.S. study shows
WASHINGTON — People who volunteer to donate a kidney face an even lower risk of death from the operation than doctors have long thought, researchers reported Wednesday. The study tracked 30 years of living kidney donation and found that by 2022, fewer than 1 of every 10,000 donors died within...
IUP advances toward medical school opening, calls FAFSA mess ‘a debacle’
What would be this state’s first college of osteopathic medicine on a public university campus is advancing toward a possible fall 2027 opening, Indiana University of Pennsylvania President Michael Driscoll says. But as the 2024-25 academic year begins, a more immediate concern exists over IUP’s likely fall enrollment — uncertainty...
Ragweed allergy season nears peak in Western Pennsylvania
Summer’s end may have some unlucky Western Pennsylvania residents sneezing, battling congestion and squinting through itchy eyes. That’s because ragweed allergy season is about to hit its peak. This time of year is peak for weed pollen — primarily ragweed — according to Dr. Russell Traister, a pediatric allergy/immunology physician...
New Hampshire resident dies after testing positive for mosquito-borne encephalitis virus
A New Hampshire resident who tested positive for the mosquito-borne infection eastern equine encephalitis virus has died, health authorities in the state said. The Hampstead resident’s infection was the first in the state in a decade, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday. The resident, whom...
EEE, West Nile, malaria: Know the difference between these mosquito-borne diseases
The world’s deadliest animal can be squashed flat with a quick slap: It’s the mosquito. The buzzing insects are more than annoying — they spread disease. When they bite and drink blood from a person or animal they can pick up viruses or germs too. If they can go on...
Ultraprocessed foods are everywhere. How bad are they?
Whether they know it or not, most Americans don’t go a day — or often a single meal — without eating ultraprocessed foods. From sugary cereals at breakfast to frozen pizzas at dinner, plus in-between snacks of potato chips, sodas and ice cream, ultraprocessed foods make up about 60% of...
How therapy dogs bring healing to Western Pa. funeral homes
Seeing a dog in a funeral home is not what most people might expect — but Judy Ryave McGuire, director of aftercare and community outreach for Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. in Shadyside, and Laney, a 6-year-old goldendoodle, are a therapy team who provide comfort at funerals. “Laney just knows how...
