‘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...
Ambitious Pitt BioForge project could help cut medical treatment costs
Seated at a table of nonscientists, Kaigham “Ken” Gabriel explained how an ordinary-looking construction site in Hazelwood just might propel Pittsburgh to the forefront of reducing medical costs through gene therapy manufacturing. To make his point, the newly hired CEO of the University of Pittsburgh’s BioForge initiative pulled from his...
Diagnosing ear infections in children is difficult; a new AI tool at UPMC could help
Using artificial intelligence technology, doctors may soon get a helping hand with diagnosing pediatric ear infections. A new software tool developed by UPMC and Pitt scientists analyzes video captured of a child’s ear canal via an auriscope connected to a smartphone camera to help determine if the patient has an...
Updated covid-19 shot expected to come this fall, CDC director says
WASHINGTON — Americans should expect yet another update of the covid-19 vaccine this fall at about the same time as flu shots are available, the top U.S. public health official said Monday. Researchers are working on selecting a strain for the upcoming version, and will probably wait until May to...
Mainline Pharmacy closure leaves community, staff mourning loss of local pillar
When Barbie Fordyce of Greensburg pulled up to the drive-thru window to get her medications at Mainline Pharmacy in Harrison City on Monday, it was for the last time. “It’s a crying shame,” Fordyce said. “I’ve been coming here forever.” The business has been a community staple for decades. But...
Post-pandemic vaccine hesitancy fueling latest measles outbreak
WASHINGTON — Cases of measles are rising across the country and seem to be striking counties at random, but experts say there is one thing the public health system can do to turn the tide, and that’s to stem the post-pandemic vaccine lag and get parents to vaccinate their kids....
Here’s why pharmacies are on a financial precipice
Every time pharmacist DJ Kiesel of Salem Crossroads Apothecary in Delmont fills a prescription for blood thinner Eliquis or diabetes medication Ozempic, his pharmacy loses money. He pays a wholesaler to get the medicines in stock, but the reimbursements he gets from pharmacy benefit managers — intermediaries between drug manufacturers...
CVS and Walgreens plan to start dispensing abortion pill mifepristone soon
The drugstore chains CVS Health and Walgreens plan to start dispensing an abortion pill in a few states within weeks. CVS Health will start filling prescriptions for mifepristone in Rhode Island and neighboring Massachusetts “in the weeks ahead,” spokeswoman Amy Thibault said Friday. Walgreens will begin dispensing the medication within...
U.S. health officials drop 5-day isolation time for covid-19
NEW YORK — Americans who test positive for covid-19 no longer need to stay in isolation for five days, U.S. health officials announced Friday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed its longstanding guidance, saying that people can return to work or regular activities if their symptoms are mild...
About as many abortions are happening in the U.S. monthly as before Roe was overturned, report finds
The number of abortions performed each month is about the same as before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and the nationwide right to abortion more than a year and a half ago, a new report finds. The latest edition of the #WeCount report conducted for the Society...
Independence Health addresses losses from 1st year as merged health care system
Independence Health System continued to lose money as it passed its one-year mark at the end of December 2023, though annual losses have shrunk by almost $9 million, according to recently released financial reports. Reports indicate the health system formed by the merger of Excela and Butler health systems has...
