FDA advisers debate updating covid booster shots for fall
Government advisers debated Tuesday if Americans should get a modified covid-19 booster shot this fall — and exactly how best to update it to fight a virus that surely will change even more by then. “That’s the problem — we’re being asked to more or less have a crystal ball...
Pittsburgh nurses say overturning Roe will endanger patients, increase burnout
About half a dozen nurses gathered Tuesday outside of West Penn Hospital in Bloomfield to decry the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, essentially making abortion illegal in several states. Pennsylvania still allows abortions up to 24 weeks into pregnancies and will continue at least through...
Millennial Money: Getting therapy when cost is a barrier
The race to find mental health treatment can feel like a marathon when you may not have the energy or ability to even make it to the starting line. You may be faced with limited affordable options and a lack of available therapists. “Prior to the pandemic, we had an...
Covid vaccines saved 20M lives in 1st year, scientists say
Nearly 20 million lives were saved by covid-19 vaccines during their first year, but even more deaths could have been prevented if international targets for the shots had been reached, researchers reported Thursday. On Dec. 8, 2020, a retired shop clerk in England received the first shot in what would...
FDA bans Juul e-cigarettes tied to teen vaping surge
WASHINGTON — Federal health officials on Thursday ordered Juul to pull its electronic cigarettes from the U.S. market, the latest blow to the embattled company widely blamed for sparking a national surge in teen vaping. The action is part of a sweeping effort by the Food and Drug Administration to...
Belle Vernon dad organizes blood drive in honor of ‘superhero’ son battling eye cancer
Albert Jasso knows how important it is to have donated blood at the ready during a medical emergency. Jasso’s 11-year-old son, Cam, recently needed blood transfusions while undergoing chemotherapy treatments for orbital rhabdomyosarcoma, a cancer of the eye. “This time around, we knew it was going to be more intense,...
Bethel Park double amputee, cancer survivor hopes to inspire others
Jean Mwale is putting one prosthetic leg in front of the other. The Bethel Park resident is taking the steps to heal and move forward, and she wants to share her story of fear, pain, hope and love. “Don’t give up,” said Mwale, smiling as she put on her prosthetic...
Trans kids’ treatment can start younger, new guidelines sayVideo
A leading transgender health association has lowered its recommended minimum age for starting gender transition treatment, including sex hormones and surgeries. The World Professional Association for Transgender Health said hormones could be started at age 14, two years earlier than the group’s previous advice, and some surgeries done at age...
Pa. health department ready to give covid vaccines to young children
The Pennsylvania Department of Health said Saturday that providers across the state are prepared to begin providing covid vaccines for young children starting early next week. The announcement comes shortly after the approval of two vaccines by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and emergency use authorization from the...
Westmoreland health care providers, employees combat staffing shortages from pandemic
The local health care industry had its challenges before a pandemic swept around the world two years ago. As summer 2022 approaches, human resources directors and department managers are finding it even more difficult to find the people who can provide basic services. It’s especially tough for small facilities such...
FDA advisers endorse 1st covid-19 shots for kids under 5
The first covid-19 shots for U.S. infants, toddlers and preschoolers moved a step closer Wednesday. The Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine advisers gave a thumbs-up to vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer for the littlest kids. The outside experts voted unanimously that the benefits of the shots outweigh any risks for...
Monroeville VA clinic expected to serve up to 10,000 veterans annually
Veterans Affairs officials are certainly proud of the work done at their flagship hospital in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood. But they’re also well aware of the drawbacks elderly veterans face when walking up the aptly-named “Cardiac Hill” to their appointments. “There are a lot of steep hills, and in bad weather...
UPMC breaks ground on $1.5B hospital project in Pittsburgh’s Oakland
UPMC said Tuesday its $1.5 billion project to build a 17-story hospital in Oakland is the largest health care construction project going in Pennsylvania — and the largest in Pittsburgh’s history. “It will be the beating heart of life-changing medicine,” UPMC President and CEO Leslie Davis said of the planned...
FDA advisers back Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for older kids
NEW YORK — A government advisory panel Tuesday endorsed a second brand of covid-19 vaccine for school-age children and teens. The Food and Drug Administration’s outside experts voted unanimously that Moderna’s vaccine is safe and effective enough to give kids ages 6 to 17. If the FDA agrees, it would...
WHO convenes experts to decide if monkeypox is an emergency
GENEVA — The World Health Organization will convene an emergency committee of experts to determine if the expanding monkeypox outbreak that has mysteriously spread outside Africa should be considered a global health emergency. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Tuesday he decided to convene the emergency committee on June 23...
UK reports 104 more cases of monkeypox, mostly in men
British health officials have detected another 104 cases of monkeypox in England in what has become the biggest outbreak beyond Africa of the normally rare disease. The U.K.’s Health Security Agency said Monday there were now 470 cases of monkeypox across the country, with the vast majority in gay or...
U.S.: Pfizer covid-19 appears effective for kids under 5
WASHINGTON — A review by federal health officials finds that Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine appears safe and effective for children under 5, the only group not currently eligible for vaccination. The review issued Sunday by the Food and Drug Administration is a key step toward a decision on vaccinations for babies,...
Marathon U.S. hearings to decide fate of covid shots for young children
Parents anxious to finally vaccinate their youngest children against covid-19, strap in: A lot is set to happen over the next week. On Wednesday, both Moderna and Pfizer will have to convince what’s essentially a science court — advisers to the Food and Drug Administration — that their shots work...
Climate-driven flooding poses well water contamination risks
ST. LOUIS — After a record- setting Midwestern rainstorm that damaged thousands of homes and businesses, Stefanie Johnson’s farmhouse in Blandinsville, Ill., didn’t have safe drinking water for nearly two months. Flood water poured into her well, turning the water a muddy brown and forcing Johnson, her husband and their...
Upper St. Clair doctor develops workout bench with injury prevention in mind
While attending Upper St. Clair High School, Joel Klein was an exemplary athlete, earning a total of six varsity letters in baseball and basketball, and serving as team captain in both sports. After he graduated, Klein continued to play baseball at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, when he could. “I was injured...
Moderna says updated covid shot boosts omicron protection
Moderna’s experimental covid-19 vaccine that combines its original shot with protection against the omicron variant appears to work, the company announced Wednesday. covid-19 vaccine makers are studying updated boosters that might be offered in the fall to better protect people against future coronavirus surges. Moderna’s preliminary study results show people...
FDA advisers back Novavax covid shots as new U.S. option
American adults who haven’t yet gotten vaccinated against covid-19 may soon get another choice, as advisers to the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday backed a more traditional type of shot. Next, the FDA must decide whether to authorize the vaccine made by latecomer Novavax, a protein vaccine that’s made...
Excela Health’s proposed merger with Butler likely a bulwark against competitors, experts say
The landscape of health care in Westmoreland, Butler and Clarion counties could soon be changing in the wake of last week’s announcement that Excela Health and Butler Health System have inked an intent-to-merge agreement. It is likely an effort by both systems to better position themselves as a player in...
Second chance: Unwanted tattoos can be lasered off or covered up
Kimberly Corrigan was never religious growing up and had only been to church twice. But when she was 18, she had a little too much to drink — and got a tattoo of the Virgin Mary on her left forearm. The tattoo would become an eyesore for the now 35-year-old...
‘Probable’ case of monkeypox in Philadelphia likely 1st in Pennsylvania
A “probable” case of monkeypox in Philadelphia is likely the first case to be reported in Pennsylvania. The Philadelphia Department of Public Health said Thursday it has “identified a Philadelphia resident who is a probable monkeypox case based on preliminary testing at the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s Bureau of Laboratories.”...
