Health category, Page 67

Sewickley area residents seeking primary and specialty care at a UPMC facility now have an option that’s closer to home. A new UPMC Primary and Specialty Care facility opened in Edgeworth, and the healthcare giant is excited about it. “This is what we call a UPMC outpatient center,” said Mark...

Covid-19 vaccines during pregnancy can protect babies after they’re born and lead to fewer hospitalized infants, a U.S. government study released Tuesday suggested. The study is the first to show potential benefits to infants born to people who received two doses of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines during pregnancy, Centers for...

Covid-19 mask mandates are ending across the United States, and while many may take that as a sign that it’s time to quit covering up, experts say there’s a lot to consider before going barefaced in public. Though cases are plummeting, deaths and hospitalizations remain high, proving covid is still...

A state House committee on Monday approved a bill that would free doctors to prescribe off-label drugs to treat covid-19 and allow pharmacists to fill the prescriptions, also without penalty. The bill was authored by Republican state Rep. Dawn Keefer of York County. It was approved by the health committee...

CANAJOHARIE, N.Y. — Ellie the potbellied pig snuggles up to Wyverne Flatt when he watches TV and sometimes rolls over to let him pet her belly. The 110-pound pig is “family,” Flatt says, an emotional support animal who helped him through a divorce and the death of his mother. Officials...

Erin Prindle is a trail runner. The Bethel Park mom laces up her Saucony shoes and ventures out. She often takes new paths. “I love running in the woods and being in nature; it’s cathartic,” she said. “Navigating a new trail is like life in the way that sometimes you...

Novavax announced Thursday that its covid-19 vaccine proved safe and effective in a study of 12- to 17-year-olds. Novavax makes a protein-based vaccine — a different type than the most widely used shots — that’s a late arrival to the covid-19 arsenal. Its shots have been cleared for use in...

NEW YORK — The nation’s top public health agency on Thursday proposed changing — and in some instances, softening — guidelines for U.S. doctors prescribing oxycodone and other opioid painkillers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s previous guidance, issued six years ago, helped slow the kind of prescribing that...

WASHINGTON — The U.S. needs a nimble, multipronged strategy and Cabinet-level leadership to counter its festering overdose epidemic, a bipartisan congressional commission advises. With vastly powerful synthetic drugs like fentanyl driving record overdose deaths, the scourge of opioids awaits after the covid-19 pandemic finally recedes, a shift that public health...

With American hospitals facing a dire shortage of nurses amid a slogging pandemic, many are looking abroad for health care workers. And it could be just in time. There’s an unusually high number of green cards available this year for foreign professionals, including nurses, who want to move to the...

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration, seeking to fill a frustrating gap in coverage for covid-19 tests, Thursday announced that people with Medicare will be able to get free over-the-counter tests much more easily in the coming weeks. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said Medicare will cover up to...

The pin on Kim Leo’s outfit is a sparkling accessory. It’s there to make a statement – but not a fashion statement. She wears it to send a heartfelt message. The shiny piece of red jewelry in the shape of a dress represents the symbol for the American Heart Association’s...

President Joe Biden is committing to reduce the cancer death rate by 50% — a new goal for the “moonshot” initiative against the disease that was announced in 2016 when he was vice president. Biden has set a 25-year timeline for achieving that goal, part of his broader effort to...

UPMC doctors say they are encouraged by the effectiveness of a new, preventative monoclonal antibody treatment that is administered to immunocompromised people before they contract covid-19. The two-shot Evusheld treatment received emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration in early December, and UPMC got its first doses later...

WASHINGTON — Moderna announced Monday that U.S. health regulators granted full approval to its covid-19 vaccine, a shot that’s been given to tens of millions of Americans since its emergency authorization over a year ago. The action by the Food and Drug Administration means the agency has completed the same...

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The stress of a two-year pandemic combined with an aging workforce and shortage of teachers has led to a critical staffing shortage among nurses. Joy Peters, chief nursing officer for Allegheny Health Network’s Jefferson Hospital, said staffing levels in almost every department at Jefferson are down 30% to 40% from...

Doulas provide physical, emotional and informational support for parents during labor. The care these individuals provide is not usually covered by health insurance. There is movement towards having their services paid for, as well as certifications for all doulas, said Robert Ferguson, chief policy officer for the Jewish Healthcare Foundation...

Their tiny hands will never hold on to their parents. Their small feet will never take a step. Their eyes will never open wide with wonder. The unthinkable death of a baby is a moment that lives on in a parent’s heart forever. The heartache of losing them is infinite....

Olivia died a few hours after birth on Oct. 2, 1999. Her parents Susan and Dan Bevevino wanted to honor their daughter’s memory and legacy. The couple helped establish Olivia’s Angels Perinatal Palliative Care Program at Allegheny Health Network. “When you face tragedy, people often say ‘things happen for a...

NEW YORK — Emerging reports show that two little-known drugs are making lethal new contributions to America’s drug overdose crisis. Para-fluorofentanyl and metonitazene are being seen more often by medical examiners looking into overdose deaths, according to a government report published Thursday. They often are taken with — or mixed...

Local hospital and nursing school officials hope $225 million in federal money being allocated to retain and recruit nursing staff in Pennsylvania, as well as provide debt relief to nursing students, is a step toward reducing a critical shortage in the profession. “Over the past year, we have been providing...

Health care workers in Pennsylvania and about half the states face a Thursday deadline to get their first dose of the covid-19 vaccine under a Biden administration mandate that will be rolled out across the rest of the country in the coming weeks. While the requirement is welcomed by some,...

WASHINGTON — Shining a light on key markers for nursing home quality, Medicare said Wednesday it is now posting details on staff turnover and weekend nurse coverage on its Care Compare website, where families can research a facility. The move by the Biden administration comes as covid-19 cases and deaths...