Can kids be harmed wearing masks to protect against covid?
Can kids be harmed wearing masks to protect against covid? No, there is no scientific evidence showing masks cause harm to kids’ health despite baseless claims suggesting otherwise. The claims are circulating on social media and elsewhere just as virus outbreaks are hitting many reopened U.S. schools — particularly those...
Biden: Nearly 3M get health coverage during covid sign-up
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that 2.8 million consumers took advantage of a special six-month period to sign up for private health insurance coverage made more affordable by his covid-19 relief law. He called the number encouraging and urged Congress to help lower health care costs. “That’s 2.8...
Most people don’t need covid vaccine booster, scientists say
Covid-19 vaccines work so well that most people don’t yet need a booster, an all-star panel of scientists from around the world said in a review that’s likely to fuel the debate over whether to use them. Governments would be better served to focus on immunizing the unvaccinated and to...
Pennsylvania targeting doctors over blanket mask exemptions
Some Pennsylvania physicians are offering stock doctor’s notes for use by parents wishing to have their children exempted from wearing masks in school, according to state health officials who say they have referred the matter for possible disciplinary action. A statewide, universal mask mandate for Pennsylvania schools went into effect...
AHN Wexford Hospital set to open
The new Allegheny Health Network Wexford Hospital is ready to open, pending state licensing. AHN, Highmark Health and local elected officials held a ribbon-cutting Friday morning at the Pine Township hospital, which is located on the same campus as the AHN Wexford Health + Wellness Pavilion. “My family lives in...
What families should know as pediatric covid cases climb in Pennsylvania
As covid-19 cases among kids continue to climb, one Pittsburgh doctor said that, while it’s good to keep precautions in mind, it’s also important to keep kids in school, even if they’re too young to be vaccinated. Covid-19 cases have been once again rising, fueled by the highly contagious delta...
Excela Health Frick Hospital in Mt. Pleasant sets up tent outdoors for minor cases as patient volume increases
A tent has been erected near the emergency department at Excela Health Frick Hospital in Mt. Pleasant to help treat patients with minor issues as the overall number of patients increases, according to Chief Medical Officer Carol Fox. Hospital officials also have enacted several less visible protocols in an effort...
Can kids get ‘long covid’ after coronavirus infections?
Can kids get “long covid” after coronavirus infections? Yes, but studies indicate they’re less likely than adults to be affected by symptoms that persist, recur or begin a month or more after infection. Estimates vary on how often the symptoms known as long covid-19 occur in kids. A recently published...
France to offer free birth control to all women up to 25
PARIS — France will offer free birth control to all women up to age 25 starting next year, the health minister announced Thursday. The measure will also include free medical visits about contraception, and will start Jan. 1, Health Minister Olivier Veran announced on France-2 television. All contraceptive methods were...
Highmark grows insurance rolls by 355K with newly inked acquisition of Gateway Health
Pennsylvania regulators have approved Highmark Health’s deal to become the sole owner of Gateway Health, instantly expanding Highmark’s insurance rolls by more than 350,000 members. “This acquisition will help us further our mission and better serve current and future Medicaid and Medicare members across Pennsylvania,” Deborah Rice-Johnson, president of Highmark...
UPMC study: Monoclonal antibody treatment reduces covid-19 hospitalization, death
Real-time studies involving UPMC’s covid-19 patients have shown that monoclonal antibody treatments “significantly decrease” hospitalization and death, researchers said Wednesday. Experts said they are studying whether such treatments are effective against more contagious variants, like the fast-spreading delta variant. The study results were published in medRxiv, a preprint journal for...
Idaho hospitals begin rationing health care amid covid surge
BOISE, Idaho — Idaho public health leaders announced Tuesday that they activated “crisis standards of care” allowing health care rationing for the state’s northern hospitals because there are more coronavirus patients than the institutions can handle. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare quietly enacted the move Monday and publicly...
Covid-19 boosters are coming but who will get them and when?
Covid-19 booster shots may be coming for at least some Americans but already the Biden administration is being forced to scale back expectations — illustrating just how much important science still has to be worked out. The initial plan was to offer Pfizer or Moderna boosters starting Sept. 20, contingent...
Deal with OxyContin maker leaves families angry, conflicted
Among the families who lost children and other loved ones in the nation’s opioid crisis, many had held out hope of someday facing OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and its owners in a courtroom. That prospect all but vanished Wednesday after a bankruptcy judge conditionally approved a settlement worth an estimated...
U.S. sues UPMC and top surgeon, alleges care violations and false billing
The federal government on Thursday filed a civil complaint against UPMC, its longtime head of cardiothoracic surgery and a physicians group, accusing them of knowingly submitting hundreds of false claims to Medicare, failing to follow medical standards for surgery and knowingly putting patients at risk. The allegations against Dr. James...
School-age covid cases continue to rise in Allegheny County
Covid-19 cases among school-age children — most of whom are not old enough to be vaccinated — continue to rise in Allegheny County, officials said Wednesday. On Wednesday, 45 children age 18 and under were reported to have tested positive for the virus in the previous 24 hours. It included...
Pitt experts anticipate major flu surge this season, urge flu shots
This year’s flu season may be severe with up to half a million more flu hospitalizations than usual, according to new studies from University of Pittsburgh researchers. Two studies released Tuesday — both led by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health — indicated that waning...
Moderna makes twice as many antibodies as Pfizer, study saysVideo
Moderna Inc.’s covid-19 vaccine generated more than double the antibodies of a similar shot made by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE in research that compared immune responses evoked by the two inoculations. The study is one of the first to compare levels of antibodies produced by the two vaccines, which...
J&J: Potential HIV vaccine falls short in mid-stage study
A potential HIV vaccine being developed by Johnson & Johnson did not provide protection against the virus in a mid-stage study, the drugmaker said Tuesday. J&J plans to end that study, which involved young women in sub-Saharan Africa. But researchers will continue a separate, late-stage trial involving a different composition...
Western Pa. doctors encourage flu shots ahead of potential ‘twindemic’
As health experts implore people to be vaccinated against covid-19, they’re also reminding everyone to get an annual flu shot. Flu shots — which are safe to get in conjunction with covid-19 vaccines or boosters — could help keep flu cases low this year, health experts said, though some worry...
White House rushes to booster doses as CDC advisers bide timeVideo
U.S. public health advisers are moving slowly toward considering the nationwide plan for booster doses of covid-19 vaccines to ward off the fast-spreading delta variant, even as the Biden administration seeks a Sept. 20 kickoff. While the booster plan laid out earlier this month had targeted individuals who received their...
Scientists manage to successfully reverse age-related memory loss in mice
A group of scientists at the University of Cambridge and the University of Leeds managed to successfully reverse memory loss in aging mice. While this may seem like an insignificant blip on the scientific radar, this breakthrough is very importantly indicative of how the same methods may be used in...
UPMC touts growing North Hills hospital hub, $12B in midyear revenue
UPMC executives boasted Thursday of “transforming” the health system’s North Hills footprint into a hub of innovative, high-demand health care services — such as robotic lung cancer detectors, more options for women and children, and a new mobile unit set to hit the streets next week. “We’ve added an extremely...
California looking to pay drug addicts to stay sober
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Frustrated by out-of-control increases in drug overdose deaths, California’s leaders are trying something radical: They want the state to be the first to pay people to stay sober. The federal government has been doing it for years with military veterans and research shows it is one of...
Pa. opioid disaster declaration is coming to an end
Pennsylvania’s opioid disaster declaration, which was first put in place more than three years ago, is now coming to an end. Gov. Tom Wolf issued the disaster declaration for the opioid crisis in January 2018 and renewed it 15 times. The Democratic governor sought to renew it again this month....
