Federal judge: West Virginia can restrict abortion pill sales
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia can restrict the sale of the abortion pill, despite federal regulators’ approval of it as a safe and effective medication, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Court Judge Robert C. Chambers determined Thursday that the near-total abortion ban signed by Republican Gov. Jim Justice...
Strained smiles as dentists struggle with staffing
If you’re in a rush to schedule a dentist appointment in Western Pennsylvania, you might be out of luck. Covid-era retirements and departures from the industry, combined with inflation and a backlog of patients who couldn’t make it to the dentist during the early months of the pandemic, have combined...
UPMC sees growth in insurance usage during first 6 months of the year
More people are using UPMC’s insurance options, particularly in Eastern Pennsylvania. The Pittsburgh-based health care giant reported an 11% increase in insurance enrollment, bringing membership to about 4.5 million during the first half of 2023. UPMC attributed the growth to its expansion of behavioral health and Medicaid products into the...
Coin drives in Bethel Park, Altoona benefit young patients
All those quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies added up to $11,061. Every cent will benefit hospitalized children. The cash was raised through coin drives held during May in the Bethel Park and Blair County school districts for the Sean Rovers and Kaylee Kruise Smiles Fund at UPMC Children’s Hospital Foundation....
Local doctors: New RSV vaccine can help protect newborns from severe illness
A newly approved vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus, better known as RSV, will give pregnant moms a chance to protect their babies from wheezing, coughing and other more serious symptoms that can land infants in the hospital. Pfizer Inc.’s Abrysvo is the first vaccine for use during pregnancy that works...
1 in 5 moms belittled, abused or ignored during pregnancy or birth, CDC reports
One in five U.S. mothers reported mistreatment while receiving maternity care with their most recent pregnancy, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in a new study Tuesday. Mothers said health care providers shouted at or scolded them, ignored requests for help or threatened that their treatment would be...
FDA approves RSV vaccine for moms-to-be to guard their newborns
WASHINGTON — U.S. regulators on Monday approved the first RSV vaccine for pregnant women so their babies will be born with protection against the scary respiratory infection. RSV is notorious for filling hospitals with wheezing babies every fall and winter. The Food and Drug Administration cleared Pfizer’s maternal vaccination to...
Cancer Bridges’ Camp Clubhouse gives children affected by cancer a safe space
A little girl with long wavy brown locks danced to the song “Brown Skin Girl” — the tune by Blue Ivy, SAINt JHN, Beyoncé and Wizkid is one she and her late father would perform as he held her little hand while she spun around the living room floor and...
Seton Hill, Westmoreland County Community College form nursing partnership
Westmoreland County Community College nursing students receiving registered-nurse degrees can pursue a bachelor’s degree at Seton Hill University, as part of a newly announced partnership. The transfer agreement will allow students a chance to pre-plan their admissions and transfer options for a more seamless transition to Seton Hill’s bachelor’s degree...
Pig kidney works in a donated body for over a month, a step toward animal-human transplantsVideo
NEW YORK — Surgeons transplanted a pig’s kidney into a brain-dead man and for over a month it’s worked normally — a critical step toward an operation the New York team hopes to eventually try in living patients. Scientists around the country are racing to learn how to use animal...
Some abortion drug restrictions upheld by appeals court in case bound for Supreme CourtVideo
NEW ORLEANS — New restrictions on access to a drug used in the most common form of abortion in the United States would be imposed under a federal appeals court ruling issued Wednesday, but the Supreme Court will have the final say. The ruling by three judges on the 5th...
North Carolina GOP seeks to override governor’s veto of bill banning gender-affirming care for youth
RALEIGH, N.C. — Transgender rights take center stage in North Carolina again Wednesday as GOP supermajorities in the General Assembly attempt to override the governor’s vetoes of legislation banning gender-affirming health care for minors and limiting transgender participation in school sports. The state House will hold the first of two...
A Pennsylvania study suggests links between fracking and asthma, lymphoma in children
HARRISBURG — Children who lived closer to natural gas wells in heavily drilled Pennsylvania were more likely to develop a relatively rare form of cancer, and nearby residents of all ages had an increased chance of severe asthma reactions, researchers said in reports released Tuesday evening. The taxpayer-funded research by...
States that protect transgender health care now try to absorb demand
States that declared themselves refuges for transgender people have essentially issued an invitation: Get your gender-affirming health care here without fearing prosecution at home. Now that bans on such care for minors are taking effect around the country — Texas could be next, depending on the outcome of a court...
Popular weight-loss drugs like Wegovy may raise risk of complications under anesthesia
Patients who take blockbuster drugs like Wegovy or Ozempic for weight loss may face life-threatening complications if they need surgery or other procedures that require empty stomachs for anesthesia. This summer’s guidance to halt the medication for up to a week may not go far enough, either. Some anesthesiologists in...
UPMC, Pitt to test ‘revolutionary’ breast cancer vaccine
UPMC and University of Pittsburgh researchers will test a vaccine to prevent breast cancer in what they say is a revolutionary step in the fight against the most common cancer in women. The seed money — $100,000 — to launch the clinical trial came from the Wexford-based nonprofit, Glimmer of...
MedExpress to eliminate nursing positions
MedExpress Urgent Care is eliminating nursing positions at its nearly 150 locations. Tribune-Review news partner WTAE-TV reported that the workers are being let go in an effort to revamp the clinic’s staffing model. It’s unknown how many workers will be affected or what the new staffing plan is. Several nurses...
Highmark among insurers that won’t cover new Alzheimer’s treatment for some customers
Some private insurers are balking at paying for the first drug fully approved to slow mental decline in Alzheimer’s patients. Insurers selling coverage in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and New York, among other states, told The Associated Press they won’t cover Leqembi with insurance offered on the individual market and through...
U.S. suicides hit all-time high in 2022
NEW YORK — About 49,500 people took their own lives last year in the U.S., the highest number ever, according to new government data posted Thursday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which posted the numbers, has not yet calculated a suicide rate for the year, but available data...
Pittsburgh-area health insurers request rate increases
The Pittsburgh region’s biggest health insurers are seeking rate increases for plans on the individual market, some up to 13%, according to the Pennsylvania Insurance Department. Highmark Inc. is asking for an average rate increase of 11.2% and the Highmark Coverage Advantage Inc. insurance plan is requesting an increase of...
U.S. covid-19 hospitalizations rising again, but not like before
Here we go again: Covid-19 hospital admissions have inched upward in the United States since early July in a small-scale echo of the three previous summers. With an updated vaccine still months away, this summer bump in new hospitalizations might be concerning, but the number of patients is far lower...
Soaring sales of diabetes drug Mounjaro, widely used for weight loss, sends Eli Lilly to new heights
INDIANAPOLIS — Eli Lilly’s diabetes treatment Mounjaro, which is widely used for weight loss, raked in nearly $1 billion in second-quarter sales, or more than $200 million above what Wall Street had expected. Shares of the drugmaker soared 17% to an all-time-high Tuesday after Lilly said Mounjaro sales swelled more...
Covid cases rise slightly but remain low compared to previous years in Western Pa.
Despite a slight increase in the number of covid-19 cases across the country, rates remain low, and they are far below the past few summers, both regionally and nationally. “Overall, we’ve had a pretty flat trajectory,” LuAnn Brink, chief epidemiologist for the Allegheny County Health Department, said Monday. “The changes...
Attacks at U.S. medical centers show why health care is one of nation’s most violent fields
Word spread through an Oregon hospital last month that a visitor was causing trouble in the maternity ward, and nurses were warned the man might try to abduct his partner’s newborn. Hours later, the visitor opened fire, killing a security guard and sending patients, nurses and doctors scrambling for cover....
FDA approves first postpartum depression pill
WASHINGTON — Federal health officials have approved the first pill specifically intended to treat severe depression after childbirth, a condition that affects thousands of new mothers in the U.S. each year. The Food and Drug Administration on Friday granted approval of the drug, Zurzuvae, for adults experiencing severe depression related...
