Charles Morris nursing home in Squirrel Hill set to close in January
Confronting financial woes exacerbated by the pandemic, the Jewish Association on Aging announced Thursday that it plans to close Charles Morris Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood. The nonprofit nursing home — among the highest-rated such facilities in Western Pennsylvania — is set to shut down permanently...
Pitt researchers find Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansions led to earlier detection of cancer
Preventive health care options ushered in by the Affordable Care Act helped doctors detect cancer in more patients earlier and may have reduced the number of late-stage cancer diagnoses around the country, University of Pittsburgh researchers found in a study released Thursday. “The thing that is sort of potentially groundbreaking...
CDC declares masks also protect wearers from covid-19, joining scientific consensusVideo
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now says masks, even cloth ones, protect wearers from catching, as well as spreading, the coronavirus. Yes, this is the same national health agency that initially said masks do not safeguard the general public and are needed only by health-care workers. It...
A winter surge in covid cases seems inevitable. Can we stop it?
Temperatures are dropping, nights are growing longer, the holidays are nearing, and the science is clear: The pandemic is far from over. A long, dark winter awaits. The number of new coronavirus cases in the United States each day has ballooned from less than 40,000 in early September to more...
CDC issues warnings, guidelines about ThanksgivingVideo
ATLANTA — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its Thanksgiving coronavirus guidelines on Monday and Tuesday, warning against travel and recommending much smaller gatherings during the annual American tradition. Thanksgiving travel is typically the nation’s busiest transportation day of the year. “Staying home is the best way to...
Pa. medical marijuana advisory board nixes new qualifying conditions as industry booms
Medical marijuana in Pennsylvania is more popular than ever, this month surpassing $1 billion in all-time sales from dispensaries to patients. The state’s Medical Marijuana Advisory Board noted the landmark at its quarterly meeting Tuesday before debating whether to add new medical conditions to the list of reasons Pennsylvanians can...
U.S. allows 1st emergency use of a covid-19 antibody drugVideo
WASHINGTON — U.S. health officials have allowed emergency use of the first antibody drug to help the immune system fight covid-19, an experimental approach against the virus that has killed more than 238,000 Americans. The Food and Drug Administration on Monday cleared the experimental drug from Eli Lilly for people...
UPMC study: No clear benefit using hydroxychloroquine to treat covid
Hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug pushed by President Trump to treat covid-19, has again shown to be ineffective in treating people hospitalized with covid-19, according to results of a study published Monday. The study “puts to rest any lingering hope that hydroxychloroquine is an effective treatment against covid-19,” said co-author Dr....
Pa. Health Secretary: Fall coronavirus surge likely is not over
Covid-19 continues to surge across Pennsylvania and the United States as a whole, with the percent positivity rate rising along with the case count. The state’s top health officials said Monday the fall resurgence likely isn’t over. “I don’t think we have peaked,” said Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine....
UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital offers new drug for postpartum depression
Having babies brought Emily Washburn joy. The experience of motherhood also crippled her with sadness. Washburn, 25, of Carlisle, was diagnosed with postpartum depression – in September 2017 after the birth of her first child, Wyatt, a boy. As she is about to deliver her third baby, she remembers her...
Pitt scientists identify promising covid treatment derived from llamas
A breakthrough treatment for covid-19 could come from llamas, according to researchers from the University of Pittsburgh, who say the treatment has the potential to treat or even prevent the virus. The idea involves immunizing a llama to SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes covid-19, and then harvesting what are called...
AHN doctor elected to board of directors for American College of Emergency Physicians
An Allegheny Health Network emergency medicine doctor was elected to the national board of directors of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), AHN officials announced Thursday. Dr. Arvind Venkat serves as AHN’s vice chair for research and faculty academic affairs in the Department of Emergency Medicine and has practiced...
Allegheny County warns of surging covid cases coupled with flu season
On a day that Allegheny County reported 200 new covid-19 cases — and the state set a single-day record for new cases, with more than 2,800 confirmed and probable infections — health officials implored residents to cooperate with case investigations and contact tracing. “The behavior of the virus in our...
More Americans on diets now than a decade ago, report finds
If it seems like more and more people are on diets these days, you might not be imagining it. A higher percentage of Americans said they’re on a special diet to lose weight or for other health reasons compared with a decade ago, according to a report Tuesday by the...
Many covid positive Pennsylvanians ignoring contact tracing questions
Fewer than a quarter of Pennsylvania residents who tested positive for covid-19 in late October answered questions from contact tracers as to whether they’d been to any restaurants, bars or mass gatherings, according to data released Monday by the Department of Health. “You might save a life by being honest...
Hospitals competing for nurses as US coronavirus cases surge
As the coronavirus pandemic surges across the nation and infections and hospitalizations rise, medical administrators are scrambling to find enough nursing help — especially in rural areas and at small hospitals. Nurses are being trained to provide care in fields where they have limited experience. Hospitals are scaling back services...
Obamacare’s fate in flux, but open enrollment starts soon
Facing a pandemic, record unemployment and unknown future costs for covid-19 treatments, health insurers selling Affordable Care Act plans to individuals reacted by lowering rates in some areas and, overall, issuing only modest premium increases for 2021. “What’s been fascinating is that carriers in general are not projecting much impact...
Trump rule says health plans must disclose costs up front
WASHINGTON — Trying to pull back the veil on health care costs to encourage competition, the Trump administration on Thursday finalized a requirement for insurers to tell consumers up front the actual prices for common tests and procedures. A major health insurance industry group said the regulation would have the...
Steelers cook up a nice afternoon for breast cancer survivors at UPMC Magee in Oakland
Some people call football players warriors for what they endure on a field playing a brutal sport. “The real warriors are you,” said Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Stephon Tuitt via a video screen Tuesday to current and former patients of the Magee-Womens Breast Cancer Program of UPMC Hillman Cancer Center....
Medicare finalizing coverage policy for coronavirus vaccine
WASHINGTON — Medicare will cover the yet-to-be approved coronavirus vaccine free for older people under a policy change expected to be announced shortly, a senior Trump administration official said Tuesday. The coming announcement from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services aims to align the time-consuming process for securing Medicare...
Health panel proposes colon cancer tests start at 45, not 50Video
A panel of health experts wants U.S. adults to start getting colon cancer screenings at age 45, five years younger than it previously recommended. While overall, colon cancer rates have been declining, the draft guidelines issued Tuesday by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force reflect a growing concern about rising...
Pa. health secretary Levine says covid can be contained through masking and other efforts
The Pennsylvania Secretary of Health on Monday had a pointed response to a political declaration that “we’re not going to control the pandemic” as Pennsylvania and most other states see surges in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. “Despite what has been reported in the last day or so, we can control...
Once a covid-19 vaccine is here, there will be a new challenge: convincing people it’s safe
There’s a good chance that a coronavirus vaccine could be available by late 2020 or early 2021. Developing an effective vaccine that fast would be a remarkable scientific achievement. It would also provide the first real hope of taming a new, deadly virus that has upended all aspects of American...
New tools are transforming breast cancer treatment in Pittsburgh
Lissa Yanak had been cancer-free for four years when doctors diagnosed her — again — with the same type of cancer. This time around, in early 2019, the triple negative breast cancer, spread to the lymph nodes above the collarbone. Yanak and her husband didn’t know what the future held,...
How a Kevin Bacon video (and other things) helped reporter survive breast cancer
I can’t really have breast cancer. That is the shock every woman goes through when hit with the diagnosis. Then comes the fear, the fight, the treatment, maybe more fear — all of which I knew about — but the post-cancer treatment, not so much. As a breast cancer survivor...
