Highmark loses $69M through 3rd quarter, dragged down by insurance costs
Highmark Health took a $69 million net loss in the first nine months of the year as the Pittsburgh-based company struggled with more frequent and costly health insurance claims. The organization’s insurance arm, Highmark Health Plans, had a $211 million operating loss through September, according to financial results released Monday....
Amid rising questions about pet vaccines, veterinarians say risks remain rare
Jennifer Sybol keeps a cherished urn with her beloved dog Jasmine’s ashes on display in the dog room of her Penn Hills home. Sybol said Jasmine developed health complications after receiving too many vaccines when she was 5. Her white blood cell count “went way up” and began working against...
Speaker Johnson unveils health care plan as divided Republicans scramble for alternative
WASHINGTON — The Senate failed to get anywhere on the health care issue this week. Now it’s the House’s turn to show what it can do. Speaker Mike Johnson unveiled a Republican alternative late Friday, a last-minute sprint as his party refuses to extend the enhanced tax subsidies for those...
What is dry needling? More about the treatment that led to T.J. Watt’s injury
After Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt needed emergency surgery for a partially collapsed lung following a “dry needling” treatment this week, many sports fans are asking, “What is dry needling, and how could it result in such a serious complication?” The freak injury suffered at the Steelers’ practice facility,...
Highmark announces affiliation with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City
Highmark is adding more than 1 million members through an affiliation with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City, the health insurers announced Thursday. The deal, which is expected to close next year pending regulatory approval, will make Highmark the third largest Blue Cross Blue Shield-affiliated organization in the country...
Senate rejects extension of health care subsidies as costs are set to rise for millions of Americans
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday rejected legislation to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits, essentially guaranteeing that millions of Americans will see a steep rise in costs at the beginning of the year. As Republicans and Democrats have failed to find compromise, senators voted on two partisan bills instead...
What are parents to do as doctors clash with Trump administration over vaccines?
It’s normal for parents, or anyone, to have questions about vaccinations — but what happens if your pediatrician urges a shot that’s under attack by the Trump administration? That’s getting more likely: The nation’s leading doctors groups are in an unprecedented standoff with federal health officials who have attacked long-used,...
Botulism outbreak sickens more than 50 babies and expands to all ByHeart products
Federal health officials on Wednesday expanded an outbreak of infant botulism tied to recalled ByHeart baby formula to include all illnesses reported since the company began production in March 2022. The Food and Drug Administration said investigators “cannot rule out the possibility that contamination might have affected all ByHeart formula...
Robert Friedlander, longtime head of neurological surgery at UPMC, steps down
Dr. Robert Friedlander, longtime head of neurological surgery at UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh, has stepped down from his post, the hospital system confirmed Tuesday. A UPMC spokesperson offered no additional details about Friedlander’s abrupt departure from his position, which he’s held since 2010. Pitt referred TribLive to UPMC’s...
Expiring Obamacare subsidies prompt thousands to drop Pennie health insurance
For every new enrollment, two Pennsylvanians are dropping Obamacare coverage as steep government subsidies are set to expire at year’s end. About 38,000 people who have Affordable Care Act coverage through Pennie, the state’s health insurance exchange, have opted not to renew their plans for next year. That’s compared to...
How a rare drug made from scientists’ blood saves babies from botulism
When Alessandro Barbera was rushed to a California hospital with infant botulism in October, his father had barely heard of the disease, never mind the rare and costly treatment that likely saved the newborn’s life. Now, however, Tony Barbera is deeply grateful for BabyBIG, the sole antidote to the paralyzing...
Cutting-edge Tourette syndrome treatment helps woman reclaim daily life
In the Neurology Department at Allegheny General Hospital’s Hemlock Building, Abigail Bailey’s body folded forward in her chair. Her muscles tightened as if someone had forced the air from her lungs. Her nose burned, her chest hitched and she gripped the chair’s armrests to keep from collapsing. Abigail’s younger sister...
Pa. transgender health leader’s name changed on federal portrait in act of ‘bigotry’
Among the portraits of agency leaders that line the hallways at the federal Department of Health and Human Services is one of Admiral Rachel Levine, who served as Pennsylvania secretary of health and physician general before being named President’s Biden’s assistant secretary of health. Levine was the first transgender person...
If you want that tattoo erased it’s going to hurt and it’s going to cost you
DETROIT — Colin Farrell’s had it done — many times. So have Angelina Jolie and Megan Fox. Heck, even Bart Simpson did. Whether it’s Marilyn Monroe’s face, Billy Bob Thornton’s name, a sultry rose or even Bart’s partially inscribed homage to his mother, some tattoos simply have to go for...
Public health experts pan vote to change hepatitis B vaccination guidance
Public health experts told TribLive on Friday they fear a federal panel’s advice to stop giving most babies hepatitis B shots immediately after birth will fuel infection rates and erode confidence in vaccines more broadly. The advisory committee voted 8-3 Friday that pregnant women who test negative for the virus...
U.S. vaccine advisers say not all babies need a hepatitis B shot at birth
NEW YORK — A federal vaccine advisory committee voted Friday to end a longstanding recommendation that all U.S. babies get the hepatitis B vaccine on the day they’re born. For decades, the government has advised that all babies be vaccinated against the liver infection right after birth. The shots are...
Faulty glucose monitors linked to 7 deaths and more than 700 injuries, FDA warns
The Food and Drug Administration is warning people to stop using certain types of glucose monitor sensors after the company that makes them, Abbott Diabetes Care, said the devices were linked to seven deaths and more than 700 injuries. Certain FreeStyle Libre 3 and FreeStyle Libre 3 Plus sensors may...
Acquisition, not merger: WVU Health System moves to take control of Independence Health’s workers, debt
WVU Health System will acquire the facilities, employees — and debt load — from Independence Health when the two entities are officially joined in the second half of next year, according to hospital officials. It also will gain access to what Independence Health has touted as more than 750,000 people...
Study favors medication, stents over major surgery for clogged neck arteries
Pennsylvania heart specialists welcomed the results of a decade-long study reinforcing their belief in minimally invasive techniques to treat clogged neck arteries versus major surgery. Researchers examined nearly 2,500 patients across five countries and 155 medical centers, including several UPMC hospitals and the Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Healthcare System. The patients...
Kennedy’s vaccine advisory committee delays vote on hepatitis B shots for newborns
A federal vaccine advisory committee on Thursday voted to delay a decision on whether newborns should still get the hepatitis B vaccine on the day they’re born. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, meeting in Atlanta, voted to delay the decision until Friday after committee members voiced confusion about voting...
A dozen former FDA leaders lambaste claims by the agency’s current vaccine chief
WASHINGTON — A dozen prior leaders of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration — appointed by Republicans and Democrats alike — issued a scathing denunciation of new FDA assertions casting doubt on vaccine safety. The former officials say the agency’s plans to revamp how life-saving vaccines for flu, covid-19 and...
What to know about the hepatitis B shot — and why Trump officials are targeting it
NEW YORK — A federal vaccine advisory committee this week is expected to discuss whether newborns should still get the hepatitis B vaccine — the first shot found to prevent cancer. Federal health recommendations now suggest that all babies be vaccinated against the liver infection in their first day of...
San Francisco sues nation’s top food manufacturers over ultraprocessed foods
The city of San Francisco filed a lawsuit against some of the nation’s top food manufacturers on Tuesday, arguing that ultraprocessed food from the likes of Coca-Cola and Nestle are responsible for a public health crisis. City Attorney David Chiu named 10 companies in the lawsuit, including the makers of...
Chances dwindling for renewal of health care subsidies, risking premium spikes for millions
WASHINGTON — Hopes for an extension of health care subsidies were diminishing in Congress this week as Republicans and Democrats largely abandoned the idea of bipartisan talks on the issue, increasing the odds that millions of Americans could see sharp premium spikes starting Jan. 1. Democrats who agreed earlier this...
Pennsylvania loses hundreds of pharmacies after a law promised help
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 — As pharmacy closures have continued across the state, a bipartisan group of lawmakers has questioned how the...
