Health category, Page 20

WASHINGTON — Anti-smoking groups sued the U.S. government Tuesday over a long-awaited ban on menthol cigarettes, which has been idling at the White House for months. The lawsuit is the latest effort to force the government to ban menthols, which are disproportionately used by Black smokers and young people. It...

Hospitals must obtain written informed consent from patients before subjecting them to pelvic exams and exams of other sensitive areas — especially if an exam will be done while the patient is unconscious, the federal government said Monday. New guidance from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services now...

ATLANTA — A person in Texas has been diagnosed with bird flu, an infection tied to the recent discovery of the virus in dairy cows, health officials said Monday. The patient was being treated with an antiviral drug and their only reported symptom was eye redness, Texas health officials said....

PHILADELPHIA — Jazmin Evans had been waiting for a new kidney for four years when her hospital revealed shocking news: She should have been put on the transplant list in 2015 instead of 2019 — and a racially biased organ test was to blame. As upsetting as that notification was,...

Though it may be tempting to sneak a peek, guidance from health officials is clear: It’s not safe to view the April 8 solar eclipse without proper eye protection. The Pittsburgh region will experience a partial solar eclipse, with 95% totality at the peak about 3:15 p.m. Those to the...

For Linda Reinstein, asbestos is personal. Her husband, Alan Reinstein, died of mesothelioma, a cancer often caused by exposure to the mineral commonly used in insulations, fire retarders and other products. News of a new rule set by the Environmental Protection Agency regarding asbestos was enough to bring her to...

People who changed their address with Highmark before August might not have received utilization letters that were sent between August and February, the Pittsburgh-based health insurer said Friday. The letters, which are required to be sent to people as part of the coverage approval process, might have been mailed to...

Walk-in mammograms will be available this spring through Allegheny Health Network — at both the Allegheny General Hospital Breast Center and North Fayette Health + Wellness Pavilion. The campaign will run from April 1 through June 14 for women over 40 and anyone younger with a family history of breast...

Covid-19 can damage your heart, even when the virus doesn’t directly infect cardiac tissue. That’s the latest from a recent study supported by the National Institutes of Health. Published in the journal Circulation, the study observed the damaged hearts of patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome associated with the virus...

The U.S. Supreme Court will take up a case Tuesday that could impact how women get access to mifepristone, one of the two pills used in the most common type of abortion in the nation. The central dispute in the case is whether the Food and Drug Administration overlooked serious...

NEW YORK — Doctors in Boston have transplanted a pig kidney into a 62-year-old patient, the latest experiment in the quest to use animal organs in humans. Massachusetts General Hospital said Thursday that it’s the first time a genetically modified pig kidney has been transplanted into a living person. Previously,...

If your pet needs to stay overnight for medical care, there is a place where you can find accommodations to be with your furry friend right there in the hospital — for no additional charge. “Pet parents are welcome to stay,” said Allison Faust, medical director for Veterinary Emergency Group...

Legislators in at least two U.S. states are citing a recent decision in England to restrict gender transitions for young people as support for their own related proposals. They weren’t the first to turn to other countries, notably in Europe, for policy and research ideas. Lawmakers across the U.S., where...

When Dr. Bob Gorby of Westmoreland Allergy and Asthma Associates in Greensburg notices the tree in his home’s backyard starting to bud, he knows it’s tree pollen season. “It’s early this year a little bit,” he said. “Tree pollen can come out as early as late February, but it’s very...

More than six in 10 of the abortions in the United States last year were done through medication, up from 53% in 2020, new research shows. The Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights, said about 642,700 medication abortions took place in the first full calendar year after...

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday announced a comprehensive ban on asbestos, a carcinogen that kills tens of thousands of Americans every year but is still used in some chlorine bleach, brake pads and other products. The final rule marks a major expansion of EPA regulation under a...

Call it a reversal of fortune. After losing money in 2022, Pittsburgh’s Highmark Health rebounded last year. The health insurance giant posted net income of $533 million even as it grappled with operating losses at its Pittsburgh-area hospitals. That compares with a $346 million loss in 2022, due largely to...

State Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Squirrel Hill, says UPMC has assured him that dental patients transferred from its soon-to-close Montefiore center “will be easily absorbed” into the University of Pittsburgh Dental School clinic without undue treatment delays. He said the hospital system said most employees from the Montefiore operation have been...

When Lucas James’ mom came to pick him up from school two years ago, Lucas knew something was terribly wrong. “I had on-and-off fevers, and we ended up having to do a blood test,” said Lucas, 14. “I was at school when my mom had gotten notified. “She was so...

Medical student Rachel Kann said she couldn’t be happier to find out she’ll be staying in Pittsburgh. “This is my dream come true. … I’m just so grateful to have gotten the chance to stay in this amazing city for seven more years and practice here,” Kann said. A Fox...

A much-awaited treatment for postpartum depression, zuranolone, hit the market in December, promising an accessible and fast-acting medication for a debilitating illness. But most private health insurers have yet to publish criteria for when they will cover it, according to a new analysis of insurance policies. The lack of guidance...

Don’t be surprised if your doctors start writing you overly friendly messages. They could be getting some help from artificial intelligence. New AI tools are helping doctors communicate with their patients, some by answering messages and others by taking notes during exams. It’s been 15 months since OpenAI released ChatGPT....

ATLANTA — A year ago, Georgia lawmakers said they were striking a balance when they banned most gender-affirming surgeries and hormone replacement therapies for transgender people under 18, but let doctors continue prescribing puberty blockers and let minors then receiving hormone replacement therapies continue. Now state Sen. Ben Watson, the...

A UPMC decision to close its Montefiore dental center has state Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Squirrel Hill, worried about how many patients will be displaced and the potential impact on their care. Frankel sought an explanation for the closure in a letter sent Friday to UPMC, a copy of which was...