FDA opens door to more flavored e-cigarettes
The Food and Drug Administration said Monday that it would open the door to e-cigarettes in flavors that it deems appealing to adults, shifting from the agency’s unsuccessful ban on fruit and candy-flavored versions that have continued to flood the market. The agency said in a document released Monday that...
UPMC Magee-Womens nurses union clamors for staffing ratios
Unionized nurses at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital will propose unit-by-unit staffing standards Tuesday as they bargain with their employer for a first contract. Roughly 900 registered nurses and advanced practitioners are seeking mandatory patient-to-nurse ratios based on recommendations from various professional organizations, such as the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and...
Butler County Community College to launch radiologic technology program
Butler County Community College officials say a new radiologic technology program will prepare students for a high-demand career. The college plans to launch a radiologic technology program in August 2027. “We saw, across the board, a need for radiological technologists,” said Julia Carney, Butler County Community College’s dean of nursing...
Challenging your brain helps keep it healthy. Here’s how to do it
WASHINGTON — “Exercise your brain,” experts advise people hoping to stave off dementia. But how? Stretching your brain might be the better description. Do a crossword puzzle a day and you may just get good at crosswords. Instead, research increasingly shows that a variety of habits and hobbies are like...
How springing forward to daylight saving time could affect your health
WASHINGTON — Most of America “springs forward” Sunday for daylight saving time. Losing that hour of sleep can do more than leave you tired and cranky the next day; it also could harm your health. Darker mornings and more evening light knock your body clock out of whack — which...
Drug plan middlemen face new oversight push as Pa. pharmacies close
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — Some Pennsylvania lawmakers want to give the state’s top prosecutor more power to take on pharmacy benefit...
Study suggests Trump’s unproven autism claims influenced care
Last year, President Donald Trump told pregnant women not to take Tylenol as he promoted unproven ties between the fever reducer and autism and touted an old generic drug as a treatment for the developmental condition. For nearly three months after that, new research found, Tylenol orders for pregnant women...
Eye on the prize: Pitt researchers study how bacteria could heal corneal wounds
Bacteria live throughout the human body. The eye was long thought to be an exception. Dr. Anthony St. Leger, a professor of ophthalmology and immunology at the University of Pittsburgh, shattered that notion in 2017 by discovering microbe C. mast lives in the eye — and even helps it stay...
Allegheny General Hospital treats victims of mock mass shooting in drill preceding 2026 NFL Draft
A woman in a Ben Roethlisberger jersey approached a triage tent Thursday morning near the ambulance bay at Allegheny General Hospital. Her left cheek was streaked red, representing a gunshot wound from a fictional mass shooting at Acrisure Stadium. “What am I supposed to do?” the actor asked the cluster...
Allegheny General Hospital simulating mass tragedy care ahead of NFL Draft
Doctors and nurses at Allegheny General Hospital will see a flood of about 20 mock mass casualty victims Thursday morning as part of a drill at the Level 1 trauma center. The scenario will focus on a fictional tragedy at Acrisure Stadium, the centerpiece of 2026 NFL Draft festivities descending...
Don’t go there: Independence Health thoracic surgeon warns Hempfield Area students about vaping
Independence Health thoracic surgeon Michael Szwerc asked Hempfield Area’s ninth grade students to raise their hand if they believe vaping is dangerous. Nearly all 360 students seated in the Harrold School auditorium Wednesday afternoon shot a hand into the air. Szwerc, who has practiced thoracic surgery for 26 years, has...
U.S. maternal deaths fell in 2024 and may have dropped again last year, government data shows
NEW YORK — Fewer U.S. women died around the time of childbirth in 2024, a government analysis shows, and provisional data suggests the trend may have continued last year. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday reported that 649 mothers died in 2024 during pregnancy or shortly...
Pennsylvania reports 12 measles cases in residents, including several in the Philly suburbs
Pennsylvania had 12 confirmed cases of measles among state residents and another two involving visitors to the state as of Tuesday, the state Department of Health said. Eight cases are associated with an outbreak in Lancaster County, where the state declared an outbreak involving five cases a month ago. The...
Pittsburgh VA expanding emergency room at Oakland hospital
The VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System is expanding the emergency room and renovating spaces for physical therapy, neurology and vascular care at its Oakland hospital. Upgrades to the emergency department at the University Drive medical center will allow for faster triage, shorter wait times and more patient beds, the Pittsburgh VA...
Where does Pitt rank in federal medical research funding?
A tumultuous time for federal research funding didn’t stop the University of Pittsburgh from increasing its annual haul through the National Institutes of Health. For the year ending Sept. 30, Pitt received roughly $670 million from the country’s top funder of medical research, up from $661 million the year prior....
As Kennedy turns from vaccines, MAHA allies see a ‘betrayal’
To all appearances, it was the next stage in the dismantling of the American vaccine program. Federal regulators refused last month to review a new mRNA flu shot from Moderna, the latest consequence of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign to give skeptics control of the bureaucracy overseeing inoculations....
Federal judge shuts door on Justice Department effort to wrest transgender care data from UPMC
A federal judge in Pittsburgh on Monday denied a request by the U.S. Department of Justice to force UPMC to turn over anonymized records for minor patients who received gender-affirming care and sharply criticized the government for its stance on transgender Americans. “Its rhetoric regarding gender-affirming care reflects callous indifference,...
Study ties up to 12.5% of Pittsburgh area adult deaths to air pollution
Air pollution in the Pittsburgh region was linked to as many as 12.5% of adult deaths in 2019, according to a study published in the journal Annals of Global Health, with the highest levels of fine particulate matter recorded in Allegheny County. Researchers from Boston College over a two year...
‘It’s a calling’: PennWest helps prepare sexual assault nursing examiners such as the one highlighted on ‘The Pitt’
One of Sierra Roman’s first cases as an emergency room nurse at ACMH Hospital — and one she’ll never forget — involved a victim of a sexual assault. Roman, who started at the hospital in August 2023, needed to perform a rape kit exam on her patient. “I’m nervous because...
Pittsburgh Water reports lowest-ever lead levels in city water supply
Pittsburgh Water’s 2025 report highlights a continued drop in lead levels detected in the city’s drinking water supply. “2025 was yet another year of Pittsburgh Water turning our commitments into real results for our customers,” CEO Will Pickering said in a statement accompanying the report, released March 2. The organization’s...
What to know before asking an AI chatbot for health advice
WASHINGTON — With hundreds of millions of people turning to chatbots for advice, it was only a matter of time before tech companies began offering programs specifically designed to answer health questions. In January, OpenAI introduced ChatGPT Health, a new version of its chatbot that the company says can analyze...
Back in black: UPMC reverses recent losses with $286M operating income in 2025
UPMC’s operating income hit $286 million last year, snapping a two-year streak of red ink. A rebound from UPMC’s health insurance division helped the organization return to positive margins after operating losses of $339 million in 2024 and $198 million in 2023, according to a financial report released Friday. Insurance...
Health care union calls on McCormick to oppose ambassadorship for nursing home magnate
Unionized care workers are pushing U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick to reject an ambassadorship nomination for a scandal-plagued nursing home magnate who owned facilities in Western Pennsylvania. Service Employees International Union Healthcare Pennsylvania staged a small press conference Wednesday morning outside the Republican lawmaker’s office in Downtown Pittsburgh, calling on him...
Surgeon general nominee faces sharp questions about vaccines, birth control and qualificationsVideo
NEW YORK — Wellness influencer, author and entrepreneur Dr. Casey Means on Wednesday shared a vision for addressing the root causes of chronic disease instead of feeding into “reactive sick care” during her confirmation hearing to become the nation’s next surgeon general. “Our nation is angry, exhausted and hurting,” the...
WVU Health System seeks to add children’s psychiatric hospital in Wheeling
West Virginia University Health System’s Wheeling Hospital said Tuesday it’s working to acquire a children’s psychiatric hospital just a couple of miles away. The target is Orchard Park Hospital, a provider of inpatient mental health services for youth ages 5 to 18. The 30-bed facility has signed a letter of...
