Health category, Page 49

UPMC officials announced they are lifting mask mandates at most UPMC buildings starting Monday. “Universal masking is no longer required at most UPMC facilities and locations (beginning May 1), but will be required in specific patient care areas where patients are particularly vulnerable to infection,” according to a UPMC spokesperson....

WASHINGTON — More than a half million of the poorest Americans could be left without health insurance under legislation passed by House Republicans that would require people to work in exchange for health care coverage through Medicaid. It’s one of dozens of provisions tucked into a GOP bill that would...

Babies born to opioid users had shorter hospital stays and needed less medication when their care emphasized parent involvement, skin-to-skin contact and a quiet environment, researchers reported Sunday. Newborns were ready to go home about a week earlier compared to those getting standard care. Fewer received opioid medications to reduce...

Brother Mark Lowery committed decades of his life to embracing people with addiction, including his own. The Brother Mark Lowery Resource Library is a way to keep his memory alive. It’s inside the church — which is part of the Christ the King Parish — where the Addiction Recovery Ministry...

The polio vaccine was created by Dr. Jonas Salk at a University of Pittsburgh laboratory about 70 years ago, and Pitt is honoring that legacy by opening a public exhibit of Salk’s personal equipment to remind visitors and students of the importance of vaccines to public health. The exhibit spans...

WASHINGTON — Days out from a surgery and with a young son undergoing chemotherapy, Kyle McHenry was scrambling to figure out if his Florida family will still be covered by Medicaid come Monday. One form on the state’s website said coverage for their sick 5-year-old son, Ryder, had been denied....

Obesity is a major and growing problem around the world, but especially in the U.S., where more than 40% of adults and about 20% of children now meet the criteria for what doctors say has become an intractable chronic disease. Rates of the disease have soared in recent decades, spurred...

As a growing number of overweight Americans clamor for Ozempic and Wegovy — drugs touted by celebrities and on TikTok to pare pounds — an even more powerful obesity medicine is poised to upend treatment. Tirzepatide, an Eli Lilly and Co. drug approved to treat type 2 diabetes under the...

Landmark legislation is on its way to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s desk that represents a major step forward in the fight against breast cancer and is a sign that bipartisanship is possible in Pennsylvania’s divided General Assembly. The House on Wednesday voted 200-0 to pass a bill that won unanimous support...

PORTLAND, Ore. — For most of her life in New Mexico, Christina Wood felt like she had to hide her identity as a transgender woman. So six years ago she moved to Oregon, where she had readier access to the gender-affirming health care she needed to live as her authentic...

WASHINGTON — Food and Drug Administration regulators on Tuesday approved a first-of-a-kind drug for a rare form of Lou Gehrig’s disease, though they are requiring further research to confirm it truly helps patients. The FDA approved Biogen’s injectable drug for patients with a rare genetic mutation that’s estimated to affect...

SALT LAKE CITY — As a third grader in Utah, mandolin-playing math whiz Elle Palmer said aloud what she had only before sensed, telling a friend she planned to transfer schools the following year and hoped her new classmates would see her as a girl. Several states northeast, Asher Wilcox-Broekemeier...

A new president has been named to lead Allegheny Valley Hospital in Harrison. Allegheny Health Network tapped Dr. Mark Rubino to head the campus. Rubino is the president of Forbes Hospital in Monroeville. He will maintain that responsibility as he also leads the 188-bed acute care hospital in the Natrona...

The life-saving drug “Narcan” is expected to be available over-the-counter later this year, but its price tag is expected to put it out of reach for many below the poverty line. Emergent BioSolutions announced Thursday that it plans to sell the medication, which can reverse the deadly affects of opioid...

Allegheny Health Network is lifting the mask mandate in place at hospitals, outpatient clinics and other “patient-facing” facilities as of Thursday, officials announced. “Throughout this pandemic, AHN has made every effort to help reduce the spread of covid-19 in our region while also keeping out patients, visitors and staff members...

NEW YORK — The longstanding racial gap in U.S. stroke death rates widened dramatically during the covid-19 pandemic, government researchers said Thursday. Stroke death rates increased for both Black and white adults in 2020 and 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study. But the difference between...

It’s not unusual for a hospital to have a coffee shop in the lobby. But at the new UPMC Mercy Pavilion, which will house institutes for ophthalmology and rehabilitation, the goal is that it will be more than just staff and patients ordering a latte in between appointments. The Uptown...

This Easter Bunny delivered more than baskets filled with toys, books and stuffed animals. He brought smiles. Inside each of the 75 containers, wrapped in plastic and tied with pink bows, were bright yellow plastic balls with a smiley face and Loopy Laura handmade smiley faces. They represent Smiles From...

A new medical facility at UPMC Mercy Pavilion in Pittsburgh’s Uptown section will marry for the first time the disciplines of ophthalmology and rehabilitation — and top doctors in those fields — when it opens this week. “To my knowledge, this is the first physical space that will be bringing...

WASHINGTON — U.S. regulators on Tuesday cleared another booster dose of the Pfizer or Moderna covid-19 vaccines for older Americans and people with weak immune systems. The Food and Drug Administration also took steps to make coronavirus vaccinations simpler for everyone, saying that anyone getting a Pfizer or Moderna dose...

Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — A historic settlement to resolve claims against opioid companies is expected to bring Pennsylvania more than $1 billion, but...

An Excela podiatrist was honored at a conference in Iceland for his use of a wound treatment product that comes from an unlikely source: under the sea. Dr. Patrick Roberto of Excela Health’s Advanced Wound Center traveled to Reykjavik at the end of February for the Northern Lights Wound Workshop...

The U.S. has named a veterinary tranquilizer as an “emerging threat” when it’s mixed with the powerful opioid fentanyl, clearing the way for more efforts to stop the spread of xylazine. The Office of National Drug Control Policy announced the designation Wednesday, the first time the office has used it...

New court rulings could spark more change for U.S. abortion policy, which has been in flux since last June when the Supreme Court overturned the nationwide right to an abortion. Courts are considering big changes, including some with broad implications, as state legislatures enact more restrictions or outright bans. Here’s...

For nearly 40 years, organ transplants in the United States have been directed by a single nonprofit called the United Network for Organ Sharing — UNOS. Critics say UNOS has come to be plagued by problems including outdated technology, wasted organs and lack of transparency. In March, the Biden administration...