Health

Dozens of passengers left hantavirus-stricken cruise ship after 1st fatality

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — More than two dozen passengers left a cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak on April 24 without contact tracing, nearly two weeks after the first passenger died on board, the ship operator and Dutch officials said Thursday. The news raised concerns that the virus...
Pennsylvania health officials report 11 measles cases in Lebanon County

Eleven people have been diagnosed with measles in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania health officials said Wednesday. After three people with measles were hospitalized in the central Pennsylvania county, state Department of Health staff conducted contact tracing in the area, located east of Harrisburg and north of Lancaster. They identified several more...
Cosmetic interventions are booming. Many say ethical conversations are lagging

LOS ANGELES — Shula Jassell is insecure about the size of her chin and has periodically considered getting filler to make it bigger. But when the 25-year-old from Southern California gives serious thought to the idea of repeatedly having to get the cosmetic procedure — it only lasts about a...
What to know about hantavirus, the illness linked to a cruise ship outbreak

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — An outbreak aboard a cruise ship of a rare rodent-borne illness called hantavirus has left three people dead and sickened others. The virus, which usually spreads when people inhale contaminated residue of rodent droppings, has been confirmed in two of the cases. The World Health Organization said...
Report identifies 3 UPMC hospitals at risk of closure from Medicaid cutsVideo

Three UPMC hospitals in Southwestern Pennsylvania are at risk for closure as cuts to Medicaid go into effect, according to a new report from consumer watchdog Public Citizen. UPMC Mercy, UPMC McKeesport and UPMC Greene were among the 446 U.S. hospitals identified as vulnerable because of recent financial losses and...
Pennsylvania sues startup over unlicensed AI ‘doctors’

The Shapiro administration is suing the maker of popular chatbot service Character.AI for illegal practice of medicine, claiming its artificial intelligence-generated personalities are posing as doctors. The chatbots will go as far as to say they’re licensed doctors in the state and provide fabricated license numbers, according to the lawsuit,...
Zambia blasts U.S. over $2 billion health deal in exchange for critical minerals

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zambia is accusing the United States of tying a $2 billion deal for critical health assistance to access to the southern African nation’s rich mineral assets, and calling the outgoing U.S. ambassador’s allegations of corruption “mischievous” and “undiplomatic.” The comments by Zambia’s foreign affairs minister, Mulambo Haimbe,...
UPMC reaches deal to acquire 4 Ohio hospitals

UPMC said Monday it has reached a “definitive agreement” to take over Trinity Health System, a four-hospital network in Ohio that it’s been eyeing since at least last year. The deal is expected to close this fall, pending regulatory reviews. UPMC declined to share financial terms. Trinity Health System is...
Supreme Court restores access to abortion pill mifepristone through telehealth, mail and pharmacies

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday restored broad access to the abortion pill mifepristone, blocking a lower-court ruling that had threatened to upend one of the main ways abortions are provided across the nation. The order signed by Justice Samuel Alito temporarily allows women seeking abortions to obtain the...
Court restricts abortion access across the U.S. by blocking the mailing of mifepristone

A federal appeals court has restricted access to one of the most common means of abortion in the U.S. by blocking the mailing of mifepristone prescriptions. Friday’s unanimous ruling from a three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is requiring that the abortion pill be...
Mammography Month shines light on misunderstood life-saving test in Pa.Video

While the U.S. breast cancer death rate declined by 43% between 1990 and 2025 following the proliferation of mammograms, per the American College of Radiology, that welcome prolonged decline has leveled off among women ages 40-74 in recent years. What’s more, ACR officials indicate the national rate of breast cancers...
Study projects hepatitis B vaccine delay could increase infections, deathsVideo

The Trump administration’s recommendation against universal hepatitis B vaccination for babies on the day they’re born could lead to hundreds of infections and dozens of deaths, according to a study published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine panel said in December babies born to...
New FDA analysis says infant formula supply is safe after testing for potential contaminants

A new analysis of chemicals in U.S. infant formula found reassuringly low levels of heavy metals, pesticides and other potential contaminants, federal health officials said Wednesday. The review was conducted as part of the Food and Drug Administration’s Operation Stork Speed project — billed as the “largest and most rigorous”...
Push for raw milk intensifies across the US, despite illness outbreaks and scientists’ warnings

Backers of raw milk are pushing to make the potentially dangerous product more widely available and easier to obtain, even as a new outbreak — one of at least five in the past year — sickens U.S. children. More than three dozen bills supporting raw milk have been introduced in...
Most sunscreens harm corals. Here’s what you can do

Every time you go for a swim, some of your sunscreen gets left behind. An estimated 25% of applied sunscreen washes off during recreational water activities, releasing some 5,000 tons annually in reef areas alone, according to a study in Environmental Health Perspectives. That’s equivalent to the weight of about...
Nebraska is becoming the 1st state to implement a Medicaid work requirement signed by Trump

OMAHA, Neb. — Nebraska on Friday will become the first state to enforce work, volunteer or education requirements for new Medicaid applicants, eight months before the federally mandated requirements kick in. Advocates worry that the state is launching so rapidly that key details remain unresolved and some people who are...

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