Free prescription discount cards from GoodRx — What’s the catch?
Americans spend more than $420 billion per year at pharmacies for prescription drugs, according to a 2022 report from the Department of Health and Human Services. Prescription discount cards help people save money on prescription drugs by offering savings at participating pharmacies. One popular company, GoodRx, offers discounts of up...
Thousands sign up to experience magic mushrooms as Oregon’s novel psilocybin experiment takes off
EUGENE, Ore. — Psilocybin tea, wind chimes and a tie-dye mattress await those coming to an office suite in Eugene to trip on magic mushrooms. For roughly six hours, adults over 21 can experience what many users describe as vivid geometric shapes, a loss of identity and a oneness with...
Clogged nose woes: Doctors weigh in on decongestant medicine declared ineffective
The over-the-counter decongestant medicine you reach for when suffering from a stuffy nose or clogged sinuses may not actually be giving you much relief, according to the Food and Drug Administration. But effective medications remain, though it may take an extra step to acquire them. FDA advisers voted this week...
North Side residents offer mixed opinions on Allegheny General Hospital’s proposed development plan
People in Pittsburgh’s North Side expressed mixed opinions about Allegheny General Hospital’s potential development plans for the next decade during a City Council public hearing Wednesday. The potential development plans, contained in AGH’s proposed 10-year institutional master plan, earned the support of the city’s Planning Commission in June. None of...
New covid booster can update protection from severe disease, Western Pa. doctors say
Western Pennsylvania doctors say the newly approved covid booster vaccine will help protect from severe impacts of the most recent variants. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration officially approved updated covid vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer on Monday. The vaccines have been tweaked to correspond to the Omicron variant XBB.1.5,...
Pittsburgh to become sanctuary city for gender-affirming care
Pittsburgh is on its way to becoming a sanctuary city for gender-affirming health care, under legislation approved Tuesday by City Council. Councilwoman Barb Warwick, D-Greenfield, sponsored a measure that will shield gender-affirming health care providers, recipients and legal guardians from out-of-state prosecution or investigation. A second, related bill will deprioritize...
Missouri clinic halts transgender care for minors in wake of new state law
ST. LOUIS — At least two Missouri health care centers stopped prescribing puberty blockers and hormones to minors for the purpose of gender transition, citing a new state law that the clinic says “creates unsustainable liability” for health care workers. Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital on...
Helping mothers and babies survive childbirth is a personal goal, says Melinda French Gates
NEW YORK — Melinda French Gates says she takes personally the deaths of hundreds of thousands of women and babies during child birth each year and believes more people should get involved in the fight for improving maternal health care. French Gates, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation co-founder and...
Popular nasal decongestant doesn’t actually relieve congestion, FDA advisers say
WASHINGTON — The leading decongestant used by millions of Americans looking for relief from a stuffy nose is no better than a dummy pill, according to government experts who reviewed the latest research on the long-questioned drug ingredient. Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously on Tuesday against...
U.S. approves updated covid vaccines to rev up protection this fall
WASHINGTON — The U.S. approved updated covid-19 vaccines Monday, hoping to rev up protection against the latest coronavirus strains and blunt any surge this fall and winter. The Food and Drug Administration decision opens the newest shots from Moderna and Pfizer and its partner BioNTech to most Americans even if...
Dr. Richard Moriarty, founder of Mr. Yuk sticker, dies at 83
When people found out Dr. Richard Moriarty was the man behind the Mr. Yuk sticker, they would say how the sticker saved them from drinking something that could have killed them. Or that the 1970s commercial, where a narrator with a menacing laugh warns kids that “Mr. Yuk is mean...
Edibles unsafe for Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program, officials say
Officials tasked with monitoring the state’s medical marijuana program said this week edibles don’t belong in Pennsylvania’s marketplace. Concerns about safety, efficacy and legal enforcement gave members of the Medical Marijuana Advisory Program pause. Six abstained from voting on the recommendation at all during its Wednesday meeting. Only two members...
Neuroscience Institute facility planned on Allegheny General Hospital campus
A five-story building at Allegheny General Hospital will be converted into a Neuroscience Institute for the acute treatment and long-term holistic management of neurological diseases. Construction at James and Hemlock streets on Pittsburgh’s North Side is underway and expected to be completed late next year. The project in the 80,000-square-foot...
Angel wings: Young Ariel to be remembered at the Butterfly Ball in Ross
Ariel Silvaggio loved animals, including bugs, spiders and worms. When her mom would pick her up from daycare, she would see the little girl playing in the dirt. Teachers would often send her mother pictures of Ariel digging to see what living things she could find outside. “She would come...
To mask or not to mask? Biden goes both ways after first lady tests positive for covid-19
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden turned up in a mask for the first time in months on Tuesday, a day after his wife tested positive for covid-19. But the president quickly ditched it during a ceremony honoring an 81-year-old Vietnam veteran, and the two unmasked octogenarians shared a hearty handshake...
‘Concierge’ focused Connected Health in Pine adds wellness coaching to services
About five years ago, Niki Campbell was still in the early stages of a career change when she did some public relations work for the owner of Connected Health in Wexford and saw where she hoped her new vocation would lead her. When she met Betty Rich, the CEO and...
UPMC names new chief financial officer
UPMC has tapped Frederick Hargett as its executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective Oct. 1, succeeding Edward Karlovich. Hargett comes to UPMC from Novant Health, Inc., a Winston-Salem, N.C.-based health system that encompasses 16 medical centers, more than 1,900 physicians and outpatient surgery centers, rehabilitation programs, diagnostic imaging...
U.S. will regulate nursing home staffing for 1st time, but proposal lower than many advocates hoped
NEW YORK — The federal government will, for the first time, dictate staffing levels at nursing homes, the Biden administration said Friday, responding to systemic problems bared by mass covid deaths. While such regulation has been sought for decades by allies of older adults and those with disabilities, the proposed...
Planned reduction of Medicare drug costs could ease burden on cash-strapped seniors
Susie Bell of Penn Township dreads this time of year. It’s not the hot weather that bothers her, but the fact that by early summer, she’s fallen into the “doughnut hole,” a colloquial term for the annual Medicare coverage gap — when the health care plan contributes far less toward...
North Huntingdon restaurateur not slowing down, despite being on kidney transplant list
As Sam Murray makes tacos in the kitchen of his North Huntingdon restaurant and talks of a plan to ride his bicycle across the country, it’s hard to image he undergoes kidney dialysis before work three days week. Or that he’s awaiting a kidney transplant. “I am not surrendering to...
Covid cases up slightly as health care providers prep for respiratory illness season
As students return to school and residents of Western Pennsylvania head inside for the fall, covid-19 cases are on the rise, local health care providers say. The increase in cases is modest compared with the past three years of larger pandemic waves, but it’s still representative of a seasonal uptick...
Highmark Health to bring more remote workers back to the office
Highmark Health plans to bring more of its remote workforce back into the office in September. While about 20,000 of the Pittsburgh-based health care giant’s clinical workers at Allegheny Health Network have been on-site during the pandemic, other employees worked remotely where possible. Highmark estimates about half of its 12,000...
5 people hospitalized in E. coli outbreak at the University of Arkansas
Health officials are investigating an outbreak of E. coli food poisoning among students at the University of Arkansas, with dozens reporting symptoms and five people needing treatment in the hospital. Among those affected are two 19-year-old sorority members who developed a serious complication that can lead to kidney failure after...
See which drugs President Biden is targeting for Medicare price-lowering talks
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is targeting the blood thinner Eliquis, diabetes treatment Jardiance and eight other medications for Medicare’s first-ever drug price negotiations as it seeks to lower medical costs for Americans. The administration on Tuesday released a list of the 10 drugs for which prices will be negotiated...
Proposal aims to make Pittsburgh a ‘sanctuary city’ for gender-affirming care
Legislation set to be introduced to Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday aims to make Pittsburgh a “sanctuary city” for gender-affirming health care. The measure, sponsored by Councilwoman Barb Warwick, D-Greenfield, would shield gender-affirming care providers, recipients and legal guardians from out-of-state investigations or prosecution. The legislation mirrors a measure approved...
