As covid health emergency ends, tracking methods change, too
When home covid tests first became available, they were flying off the shelves and customers often struggled to find them. Now at Mainline Pharmacy’s Harrison City location, home covid tests are available, but kept behind the counter. Erica McClain, pharmacy tech, said people come in to ask for them “every...
U.S. approves 1st vaccine for RSV after decades of attempts
WASHINGTON — The U.S. approved the first vaccine for RSV on Wednesday, shots to protect older adults against a respiratory virus that’s most notorious for attacking babies but endangers their grandparents, too. The Food and Drug Administration decision makes GSK’s shot, called Arexvy, the first of several potential vaccines in...
Brighton Rehab therapists preparing to go on 9-day strike, union reps say
Physical, speech and occupational therapists at Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center in Beaver County are preparing to go on a nine-day strike over claims of unfair labor practices, including what they say is the nursing home’s failure to bargain in good faith. During a news conference Wednesday afternoon, therapists represented...
Pink eye may be a sign you have covid: What to know about the new virus symptom
A common and relatively mild malady is yet another symptom people should watch for in the fight against covid-19, experts say. Conjunctivitis — commonly known as pink eye and typically brought on by a virus, bacteria or allergies — can be a symptom of a covid infection. And public health...
Is nurse shortage myth or reality? Question drives Pa. hospital staffing debate
Is a shortage of nurses preventing hospitals from hiring enough? Or is there a sufficient supply of nurses, but not enough willing to work in hospitals? That’s a central question in the debate over a proposed Pennsylvania law that would require hospitals to provide a minimum number of nurses for...
Millennial Money: Trusts can aid those with mental illness
More than 50% of Americans will be diagnosed with a mental illness or disorder during their lifetime, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Chances are, some of these individuals will be inheriting wealth at some point. If a family member’s mental health issues may interfere with their...
Scooby doobie don’t: Discarded joints pose hazards for dogsVideo
NEW YORK — Bondi, an 8-month-old toy poodle, had just returned from a walk when he began stumbling. His head wobbled and soon he could barely stand, so his owner, Colleen Briggs, rushed him to the vet. The good doctor quickly made a diagnosis: Bondi was stoned. On his walk,...
Loneliness poses risks as deadly as smoking: surgeon general
WASHINGTON — Widespread loneliness in the U.S. poses health risks as deadly as smoking up to 15 cigarettes daily, costing the health industry billions of dollars annually, the U.S. surgeon general said Tuesday in declaring the latest public health epidemic. About half of U.S. adults say they’ve experienced loneliness, Dr....
Man who gave $1M to IUP’s osteopathic medicine school explains why he donated
Rich Caruso was skeptical when he learned his alma mater, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, wanted to boost rural physician access by opening the commonwealth’s first school for osteopathic medicine on a state university campus. Then his 101-year-old mother, Margaret, got sick. What happened next to the woman who lives in...
Feds: Hospitals that denied emergency abortion broke the law
WASHINGTON — Two hospitals that refused to provide an emergency abortion to a pregnant woman who was experiencing premature labor put her life in jeopardy and violated federal law, a first-of-its-kind investigation by the federal government has found. The findings, revealed in documents obtained by The Associated Press, are a...
UPMC lifts mask mandate for most facilities
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....
What GOP’s plan for Medicaid work requirements would mean
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...
Quiet and parents’ touch help opioid users’ newborns: study
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...
Library inside St. Francis of Assisi Church’s Addiction Recovery Ministry dedicated to Brother Mark Lowery
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...
Dr. Jonas Salk polio vaccine exhibit opens at University of Pittsburgh
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...
Error, confusion plague review kicking millions off Medicaid
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....
What to know about prescription drugs promising weight loss
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...
Powerful new obesity drug poised to upend weight loss care
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 bill in fight against breast cancer headed to Gov. Shapiro’s desk
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...
Blue states help trans health coverage
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...
Drug for rare form of Lou Gehrig’s disease OK’d by FDA
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...
For transgender kids, a frantic rush for treatment amid bans
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...
New president named to Allegheny Valley Hospital
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...
Narcan’s over-the-counter price will still put it out of reach for many, experts say
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...
Mask mandate ends at Allegheny Health Network while Excela, UPMC hold to CDC guidelines
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...
