AHN signs deal to pull Heritage Valley hospitals into its network
Allegheny Health Network and the much smaller Heritage Valley Health System have signed a merger agreement, marking the latest push by the Pittsburgh region’s biggest hospital systems to expand their reach. Officials on Thursday announced the deal, which requires state and federal government approval. It would bring Heritage Valley hospitals...
Study questions value of beta-blockers for heart attack patients
Doctors are reassessing decades of standard treatment for patients who have had heart attacks after new research shows beta-blockers may be anywhere from useless to harmful in certain cases. The research was conducted in Spain and Italy and hit medical journals only in August, but it’s already started to impact...
Sticker shock: Pennie expects Obamacare premiums to soar even more than first feared
The end of enhanced Obamacare subsidies could be even more costly than initially feared for Pennsylvanians who use the health insurance program. Pennie, the state’s Affordable Care Act health insurance exchange, now estimates the average enrollee will see premiums climb 102% if Congress lets the subsidies expire at the end...
UPMC enters takeover talks for Ohio’s Trinity Health System
UPMC is looking to absorb Trinity Health System and its four hospitals in eastern Ohio. CommonSpirit Health, the parent organization of Trinity Health System, said in a joint release Wednesday its has a nonbinding deal with UPMC to pursue a takeover agreement. “Over the next several months, both entities will...
New covid guidelines add confusion, complications for Americans seeking shots
NEW YORK — Americans headed to pharmacies for covid-19 vaccines are running into roadblocks and confusion due to new U.S. guidance that abandoned broad support for the shots, contributing to the lowest vaccination rates since they were introduced. For the four-week period ended Oct. 3, covid immunizations were down about...
White House: Trump gets covid shot in preparation for upcoming travel
President Donald Trump has received updated flu and covid-19 booster shots in preparation for upcoming travel, the president’s physician announced Friday. Sean P. Barbabella, a Navy captain, shared the information in a letter submitted Friday to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. “President Donald J. Trump successfully completed a scheduled...
Giant Eagle wades into pharmacy benefit management, promising transparency
As Giant Eagle expands its pharmacy business by absorbing customers from the failed Rite-Aid chain, it quietly has been making a bigger push into a more obscure sector of the industry: pharmacy benefit management. After dabbling for at least a decade in pharmacy benefit management, serving as the go-between among...
Health Secretary Kennedy, Trump link circumcision to autism through TylenolVideo
WASHINGTON – Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. expanded his crusade against using Tylenol with a cutting-edge warning: boys who were circumcised were twice as likely to be diagnosed with autism later. “There are two studies that show children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism,” Kennedy...
Covid shot led to less severe illness, fewer hospitalizations last year, U.S. study finds
Last year’s updated covid-19 vaccines helped prevent severe outcomes including hospitalizations and deaths, according to data from a large study of U.S. military veterans published on Wednesday. Vaccinated veterans who developed covid after receiving the 2024-2025 boosters from Moderna or Pfizer/BioNTech were also less likely to visit the emergency room...
Arnold Schwarzenegger gets real about aging, joint pain. Does he regret Mr. Olympia training?
In the 1977 film “Pumping Iron,” Arnold Schwarzenegger famously described “the pump” − or when blood flows into your muscles during a workout − as “the greatest feeling.” Akin to sex, even. Now, at 78, Schwarzenegger says he stands by this description − but he’d like to add some important...
Health official calls for separating measles combination shots, pulls broad covid vaccine support
A top U.S. health official on Monday called for the combined measles-mumps-rubella shot to be broken up, drawing a quick rebuke from vaccine maker Merck, which said there is no scientific evidence that shows any benefit to doing so. The U.S. CDC earlier on Monday pulled broad support for covid-19...
Western Pennsylvania’s Mark Christman champions FSHD awareness
Mark J. Christman doesn’t have the strength to hold his nearly 8-month-old grandson, William “Willie” Chavara. “I am weaker every year,” said Christman, who was diagnosed in 1977 with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD), a genetic disorder that weakens skeletal muscles. “I can’t get in and out of bed myself or...
Though wary of covid shots, these Trump voters balk at restricting traditional vaccines
Chad Hill thinks some questions need to be asked about vaccines. Hill has harbored doubts about the covid-19 vaccine since it was introduced, due to how quickly it was developed and released. He suspects that medical experts who pushed the vaccine were compromised by ties to drugmakers. And he supported...
Health Secretary Kennedy speeds autism drug with GSK help
Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. could deliver a policy win for the Trump administration in just a few months after the Food and Drug Administration enlisted GSK to help it fast-track approval of a decades-old drug to treat an autism-related disorder. The FDA’s unusual move will allow it to...
Yoga in Sewickley fosters wellness and communityVideo
Yoga in Sewickley is a place to relax the body and the mind. Sharon Beddard Hess always tries to start each class with an intention, something to focus on because, to her, teaching yoga isn’t just about “going in there and exercising.” “This is a body, mind, practice,” Hess said....
Conservatives furious as FDA approves new generic abortion pill
The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new generic version of the abortion drug mifepristone, as conservatives slammed the decision as a stab in the back to the anti-abortion movement. The new generic mifepristone is manufactured by Evita Solutions, which says its mission is to “normalize abortion” and make...
UnitedHealth to exit Medicare Advantage plans in 16 U.S. counties
NEW YORK — UnitedHealth said it will stop offering Medicare Advantage plans in 16 U.S. counties in 2026, impacting 180,000 members, as the company balances higher costs with reimbursement pressure in the insurance program. “The combination of (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) funding cuts, rising healthcare costs and increased utilization...
Trump executive order aims to use AI to boost childhood cancer research
CHICAGO — U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday to bolster the use of artificial intelligence and provide an additional $50 million in research grants aimed at finding cures for childhood cancers, according to a White House official. The order builds on the National Cancer Institute’s Childhood...
Trump announces Pfizer price cuts as White House presses drugmakers
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Pfizer will cut the price of all prescription drugs in the Medicaid program for low-income Americans and sell new prescription drugs at a “most favored nation” price in exchange for tariff relief. Trump also said he expects other drugmakers to follow suit....
Older, disabled Pennsylvanians bear brunt of home care staffing crisis
Lisa Sprague does what she can on her own, but nerve damage caused by multiple sclerosis means she needs help getting out of bed, bathing and completing other daily tasks. The state pays for 13 hours of care every day at her Harmar home, a bungalow retrofitted with a wheelchair...
Europe banned certain gel nail polishes. Will the U.S. follow suit?
A common chemical found in gel nail polish was banned in Europe. Will the United States do the same? It’s unlikely, experts say. The European Union banned the chemical trimethylbenzoyl diphenylphosphine oxide, or TPO, in May because of a possible link to fertility problems based on animal studies, the New...
Giant Eagle plans to invest $100M in strategic push amid heavy competition
Flush with cash after selling GetGo for $1.6 billion, Giant Eagle is prepared to spend more than $100 million to renovate stores and show customers it’s serious about lowering prices. The investment spree started Thursday and will run through 2026, marking the start of a “new era” for Giant Eagle,...
Trump’s touting of an unproven autism drug surprised many, including the doctor who proposed it
WASHINGTON — When President Donald Trump’s administration announced it would repurpose an old, generic drug as a new treatment for autism, it came as a surprise to many experts — including the physician who suggested the idea to the nation’s top health officials. Dr. Richard Frye told The Associated Press...
Florida docs can turn away unvaccinated patients; Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to change that
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — In Florida, you can’t turn away a patient on the basis of their race, color, sex, religion or national origin. But a doctor can turn someone away if they’re unvaccinated. Gov. Ron DeSantis and Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo want to end that. In a news conference earlier...
Pa. families risk higher premiums as leaders urge feds to save insurance tax credits
Indiana County resident Tony Gonzales and his wife are just two of the almost half a million Pennsylvanians who could be hit with sharp health insurance price hikes next year. The college professor said he and his wife enrolled in Pennie, Pennsylvania’s Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance exchange, about...
