School library book bans are seen as targeting LGBTQ content
DES MOINES, Iowa — Teri Patrick bristles at the idea she wants to ban books about LGBTQ issues in Iowa schools, arguing her only goal is ridding schools of sexually explicit material. Sara Hayden Parris says that whatever you want to call it, it’s wrong for some parents to think...
‘Ted Lasso’ visits White House, promotes mental health careVideo
WASHINGTON — Fictional soccer coach Ted Lasso used a White House visit Monday to encourage people, even in politically divided Washington, to make it a point to check in often with friends, family and co-workers to “ask how they’re doing, and listen, sincerely,” Comedian Jason Sudeikis, who plays the title...
Did raccoon dogs start covid pandemic? Western Pa. experts weigh in
After international scientists discovered a potential link between the origin of the covid-19 virus and raccoon dogs, medical experts in Western Pennsylvania said the animal could be where the virus began. Samples collected from the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan, China — where the first human cases of covid-19 were...
Pa. delegation pushes to end opioid treatment co-pays, saying many people thwarted by cost
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey this week introduced a bill that would lower costs for people who need drug addiction treatment. Another Pennsylvania Democrat, U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean, said she would introduce a similar bill in the U.S. House. What would the bills do? Mainly, they would eliminate insurance deductibles and...
New covid origins data suggests pandemic linked to raccoon dogs
International scientists who examined previously unavailable genetic data from samples collected at a market close to where the first human cases of covid-19 were detected in China said they found suggestions the pandemic originated from animals, not a lab. Other experts have not yet verified their analysis, which also has...
Covid-19 pill Paxlovid moves closer to full FDA approval
WASHINGTON — Pfizer’s covid-19 pill Paxlovid won another vote of confidence from U.S. health advisers Thursday, clearing the way for its full regulatory approval by the Food and Drug Administration. The medication has been used by millions of Americans since the FDA granted it emergency use authorization in late 2021....
U.S. pregnancy deaths dropped in 2022, after covid spike
NEW YORK — Deaths of pregnant women in the U.S. fell in 2022, dropping significantly from a six-decade high during the pandemic, new data suggests. More than 1,200 U.S. women died in 2021 during pregnancy or shortly after childbirth, according to a final tally released Thursday by the Centers for...
Excela-Butler combined health system lays off 13 managers
The newly combined Excela and Butler health systems laid off a total of 13 manager-level staff members on Wednesday, according to spokesperson Tom Chakurda. The positions were eliminated “from across both sides of the new system,” Chakurda confirmed, and were from support functions that did not involve direct care personnel....
Not magic: Opaque AI tool may flag parents with disabilities
PITTSBURGH — For the two weeks that the Hackneys’ baby girl lay in a Pittsburgh hospital bed weak from dehydration, her parents rarely left her side, sometimes sleeping on the fold-out sofa in the room. They stayed with their daughter around the clock when she was moved to a rehab...
Conn. woman 1st non-Vermonter granted assisted suicide right
MONTPELIER, Vt. — Lynda Bluestein has terminal cancer and knows she’ll likely die soon, but until Tuesday, she didn’t know if she’d be able to choose how or when and whether her family, friends and dog would be with her when the time comes. The 75-year-old from Bridgeport, Connecticut, reached...
Pfizer buys Seagen for $43B, boosts access to cancer drugs
Pfizer is spending about $43 billion to reach deeper into new cancer treatments that target tumor cells while sparing surrounding healthy tissue. The pharmaceutical giant said Monday it will pay $229 in cash for each share of Seagen Inc. Pfizer then plans to let the biotech drug developer “continue innovating,”...
Determining if someone is mentally fit for trial in Pa. often traps them in the place making them worse — jail
This story is a collaboration between Spotlight PA and the Pittsburgh Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, published as part of a Pittsburgh Media Partnership project. Sign up for Spotlight PA’s free newsletters here. Rachel Bridgeman thought she could hear God. Locked in the Allegheny County Jail, she slid from reality. The...
House votes to declassify info about origins of covid-19
WASHINGTON — The House voted unanimously on Friday to declassify U.S. intelligence information about the origins of covid-19, a sweeping show of bipartisan support near the third anniversary of the start of the deadly pandemic. The 419-0 vote was final approval of the bill, sending it to President Joe Biden’s...
UPMC nurse lost job for speaking publicly about staffing shortages, labor complaint says
A nurse at UPMC Altoona was illegally retaliated against and fired after she spoke to local media about staffing shortages and working conditions, according to a complaint from the National Labor Relations Board. UPMC on Friday defended its actions, saying that the nurse in question was a contractor on temporary...
Anxiety, fear fill West Virginia transgender-health clinic
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The tiny clinic where physicians prescribe hormones and other medications to transgender teenagers shares the same campus where West Virginia kids travel to receive treatments for rare cancer, heart surgery and other health care difficult to get anywhere else. In a rural state purported to have the...
Prescription weight loss drugs: What to know
WeightWatchers’ acquisition of a telehealth company is just the latest commercial push into the market for a new generation of medications that promise significant weight loss. WeightWatchers will introduce its 3.5 million members to drugs that have been touted on social media by celebrities. These injected medications mimic the action...
Medical tourism: Traveling outside U.S. for care is common
The recent kidnapping of four Americans in Mexico highlights a common practice for many people in the U.S.: traveling to other countries for medical care that either is not available at home or costs a lot less. The four were abducted — leading to the deaths of two — during...
WeightWatchers gets into prescription weight loss business
WeightWatchers’ stock soared Tuesday after the company said it is getting into the prescription drug weight loss business with the acquisition of Sequence. Sequence is a telehealth provider that offers users access to drugs used to treat diabetes and obesity under the brand names including Ozempic, Wegovy and Trulicity. The...
Lawsuit: Western Psych staff mistook nurse’s disabilities, injected him with antipsychotic meds
A former charge nurse at Pittsburgh’s Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic has filed a lawsuit alleging that colleagues mistook symptoms of his disabilities for substance abuse and injected him with an antipsychotic medication before trying to have him involuntarily committed. Aaron Diamond, now of Lehigh County, had worked as a...
FDA: 2 more eyedrops brands recalled due to risks
WASHINGTON — U.S. health officials are alerting consumers about two more recalls of eyedrops due to contamination risks that could lead to vision problems and serious injury. The announcements follow a recall last month of eyedrops made in India that were linked to an outbreak of drug-resistant infections. One person...
March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month — and the disease is hitting people younger
March has been designated National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, bringing with it more tools and information for individuals on screenings and risk. According to the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, one in 24 people will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer (the second deadliest cancer in the U.S.) in their lifetimes. “Colon cancer...
Proposed bill would give Pa. doctors more leeway in prescribing medical marijuana
A bipartisan bill expected to be introduced soon in Harrisburg would loosen regulations of Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program and could substantially increase the number of cannabis patients in the state. A memo on the legislation co-sponsored by state Sens. Jim Brewster, D-McKeesport, and Mike Regan, R-York, said the bill would...
Carnegie Mellon air quality data shows levels of ‘potential concern’ from Ohio derailment site
Carnegie Mellon University scientists monitoring the air near the East Palestine, Ohio, derailment site found levels of pollution from most chemicals measured to be of low or minimal risk, but at least one pollutant was detected at levels of “potential concern.” Researchers from Carnegie Mellon and Texas A&M University teamed...
The implications of Walgreens’ decision on abortion pills
Walgreens says it will not start selling an abortion pill in 20 states that had warned of legal consequences if it did so. The drugstore chain’s announcement Thursday signals that access to mifepristone may not expand as broadly as federal regulators intended in January, when they finalized a rule change...
Officials: Person dies after brain-eating amoeba infection
PUNTA GORDA, Fla. — A person in southwest Florida has died after being infected with an extremely rare brain-eating amoeba, health officials said. The Florida Department of Health in Charlotte County confirmed the death Thursday. The agency had previously issued an alert last month, warning residents about the Naegleria fowleri...
