Shock value: Pirates’ rapid response saved Ernie Withers, inspired him to pay it forward
BRADENTON, Fla. — Ernie Withers stood in left-center field at Pirate City, where he almost died during a spring training workout a year ago, and reflected on how the Pittsburgh Pirates saved his life. And, by doing so, saved his wife. When Withers went into sudden cardiac arrest at the...
Potential covid quarantine guidance change draws mixed reactions
Eleanor Nicholson of Apollo says she isn’t that concerned about covid. “Maybe (it’s) because I’ve never really had it. Nobody in my family has,” she said. Her opinion hasn’t changed with the reports that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could drop the five-day waiting period for people who...
Study: More people die after smoking drugs than injecting them
NEW YORK — Smoking has surpassed injecting as the most common way of taking drugs in U.S. overdose deaths, a new government study suggests. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called its study published Thursday the largest to look at how Americans took the drugs that killed them. CDC...
Lyme disease case counts in U.S. rose by almost 70% in 2022 due to change in how it’s reported
NEW YORK — Lyme disease cases in the U.S. jumped nearly 70% in 2022, which health officials say is not due to a major increase of new infections but instead a change in reporting requirements. Reported cases surpassed 62,000 in 2022, after averaging about 37,000 a year from 2017 through...
Cyberattacks on hospitals are likely to increase, putting lives at risk, experts warn
WASHINGTON — Cybersecurity experts are warning that hospitals around the country are at risk for attacks like the one that is crippling operations at a premier Midwestern children’s hospital, and that the U.S. government is doing too little prevent such breaches. Hospitals in recent years have shifted their use of...
TV Talk: Jon Burnett comforted by viewer support after former KDKA-TV host’s diagnosis revealed
For former KDKA-TV weathercaster and “Evening Magazine” and “Pittsburgh Today Live” host Jon Burnett, it wasn’t a difficult decision to share the story of his suspected CTE diagnosis. However, answering a question about it can prove challenging due to the disease’s effects. Then Burnett’s charming, folksy personality comes through clear...
CDC plans to drop 5-day covid isolation period, report says
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans on doing away with the five-day waiting period for people who test positive for covid, according to the Washington Post. Instead of going with a time-based approach, the Post reported that the guidance will be symptom-based — people will no longer need...
Treasury Secretary Yellen visits Pittsburgh, won’t tip hand about review of pending U.S. Steel sale
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday became the latest Biden administration official to visit Pittsburgh, where she toured a hospital and touted the president’s efforts to expand health care access and lower prescription drug costs. Hosted by U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, Yellen toured West Penn Hospital, held a...
Mental health emerges as a dividing line in abortion rights initiatives planned for state ballots
CHICAGO — The weeks after Kaniya Harris found out she was pregnant were among the hardest in her life. Final exams were fast approaching for the college junior. Her doctors told her she had an ovarian cyst, and the risk of ectopic pregnancy was high. The wait times for abortion...
‘A horrible, perfect storm’: Frustrations rise as shortage of Adderall, other ADHD medication continues
All Jennifer Howell wanted was to find medication for her son. Instead, she was caught in a maze of desperate phone calls to pharmacies and physicians. Her son, Linus, had been diagnosed with ADHD in 2021 during the grips of the covid-19 pandemic. Many of his behavioral traits — restlessness,...
In wake of Biden report, experts explain how aging affects the brain
No model predicts how an individual’s mind changes or memory fades over time, according to local experts. “It’s very much an individual thing,” said University of Pittsburgh associate psychology professor Marc Coutanche. “You can have someone who’s very sharp right into their 80s, and you can have someone in their...
Paxlovid can lessen the chance of a severe covid-19 illness. Why is it underused?
Tens of thousands of Americans are hospitalized with covid-19 every week. Thousands die from it every month. And yet, an antiviral treatment proven to lessen the chances of severe outcomes is going underused. The drug, Paxlovid, is lauded by experts as a powerful tool that can prevent hospitalization and death...
How to get covid-19 antiviral pills like Paxlovid
For some people with covid-19, antiviral pills that can be taken at home can lessen the chances of winding up in the hospital. But the pills have to be taken right away, so you must get tested, obtain a prescription and get the medication within five days of symptoms appearing....
As cancer treatment advances, patients and doctors push back against drugs’ harsh side effects
For cancer patients, the harsh side effects of powerful drugs have long been the trade-off for living longer. Now, patients and doctors are questioning whether all that suffering is necessary. They’ve ignited a movement to radically change how new cancer drugs are tested, with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration...
Rio de Janeiro declares a dengue health emergency days ahead of Carnival
RIO DE JANEIRO — Rio de Janeiro on Monday has declared a public health emergency because of an outbreak of mosquito-borne dengue fever, the city announced Monday, just days before Carnival celebrations kick off across Brazil. The outbreak wasn’t expected to derail Carnival, which officially starts Friday evening and runs...
Chemical hair straighteners and the impact on Black women’s health
Jasmine Green sat in the kitchen one afternoon in 2003, getting her hair done by her grandmother. Her curly coils were being parted in sections with a slender comb to reveal her scalp. Vaseline was placed on open areas between the parts. After the Vaseline, a thick, pungent white cream...
Black men have increased risk of prostate cancer
Martin Luther King Jr.’s youngest son, Dexter Scott King, died from prostate cancer one week after MLK Day and only eight days before what would have been his 63rd birthday. His death has again emphasized the importance for Black men to be screened for prostate cancer. For reasons that are...
‘This is what money smells like:’ $2.2M fine is latest entry in Clairton’s air pollution history
Melanie Meade monitors plumes of pollution. Her hilltop home overlooks Clairton Coke Works, the largest coke-manufacturing facility in North America — and Allegheny County’s top source of air pollution. From that tree-dotted perch, Meade uses her iPhone almost daily to photograph emissions spewing from the 123-year-old plant’s coke ovens. Then...
As investors pile into psychedelics, idealism gives way to pharma economics
Money is pouring into the fledgling psychedelic medicine industry, with dozens of startup companies vying to be among the first to sell mind-expanding drugs for depression, addiction and other mental health conditions. While psychedelics are still illegal under federal law, companies are jostling to try and patent key ingredients found...
Home test could be ‘game-changer’ in fight against cervical cancer
Cervical cancer is the only cancer that is vaccine-preventable and curable, but the United States is lagging in its efforts to meet the World Health Organization’s 2030 targets to effectively eliminate the disease. A mix of low vaccination uptake — just 61.7% of U.S. teenage girls were up to date...
News anchor Jaime Baker raising awareness for women and cardiovascular disease
Jaime Baker will be wearing red Friday. The bold color symbolizes a heartfelt message. Over the next nine weeks, the 37-year-old North Side resident hopes to spread awareness about the No. 1 killer of women — cardiovascular disease. “Women’s heart health is so important,” said Baker, a news anchor for...
Independent pharmacies in Western Pa. refine service to meet industry challenges
Klingensmith’s Pharmacy in Leechburg welcomed about 200 new customers seeking an alternative source for their prescriptions after Wednesday’s abrupt closing of Health Mart pharmacies in Leechburg and Lower Burrell. The closings are part of a trend among some independent pharmacies that struggle to make a profit as big-box retailers buy...
CDC recommends RSV vaccine, monoclonal antibodies in official immunization schedule update
New parents, take note: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is including vaccinations and treatments to protect against respiratory syncytial virus — better known as RSV — in its recommended vaccination schedule for infants. The treatments — an RSV vaccine recommended during pregnancy to protect the baby before birth,...
IUP eyes potential location for medical school, state announces ‘investment’ in project
The state will invest $2 million in startup funds toward developing a College of Osteopathic Medicine at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, state Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman announced Wednesday night. Pittman, R-Indiana, delivered the news at a public reception welcoming the proposed college’s recently named founding dean, Miko Rose. It...
The U.S. hasn’t seen syphilis numbers this high since 1950. Other STD rates are down or flat
NEW YORK — The U.S. syphilis epidemic isn’t abating, with the rate of infectious cases rising 9% in 2022, according to a new federal government report on sexually transmitted diseases in adults. But there’s some unexpected good news: The rate of new gonorrhea cases fell for the first time in...
