Health category, Page 27

Robin was standing on the side of the road in Downtown Pittsburgh holding a piece of tattered cardboard, asking for money. “It was my birthday,” said the Army veteran who gave only a first name, tearing up standing on the Boulevard of the Allies. “And I couldn’t even get $1....

Highmark President David Holmberg took home about $9.47 million in 2022, an increase of 9.6% over his compensation in the previous year, according to financial statements filed Friday. For Holmberg, who also serves as board chairman, that pay package includes a base compensation of about $1.57 million and bonuses and...

NEW YORK — The proportion of U.S. kindergartners exempted from school vaccination requirements has hit its highest level ever, 3%, U.S. health officials said Thursday. More parents are questioning routine childhood vaccinations that they used to automatically accept, an effect of the political schism that emerged during the pandemic around...

By the end of the century, the U.S. population will be declining without substantial immigration, older adults will outnumber children and white, non- Hispanic, residents will account for less than 50% of the population, according to projections released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. The population projections offer a glimpse...

NEW YORK — Surgeons have performed the world’s first transplant of an entire human eye, an extraordinary addition to a face transplant — although it’s far too soon to know if the man will ever see through his new left eye. An accident with high-voltage power lines had destroyed most...

Butler Health System’s losses almost doubled in the fiscal year ending June 30, according to newly released financial documents. The system, which in January merged with Excela Health to create Independence Health System, lost $43.3 million in fiscal year 2023. Butler Health reported $22.8 million in losses in the fiscal...

On Tuesday, Ohio became the 24th state to legalize recreational use of marijuana after having a medical-only program in place. Now all of Pennsylvania’s neighbors, except West Virginia, allow recreational marijuana use. Pennsylvania passed medical marijuana laws in 2016. Pennsylvania medical marijuana patients must now be diagnosed with at least...

A new version of the popular diabetes treatment Mounjaro can be sold as a weight-loss drug, U.S. regulators announced Wednesday. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Eli Lilly’s drug, named Zepbound. The drug, also known as tirzepatide, helped dieters lose as much as 40 to 60 pounds in testing....

NEW YORK — Alarmed by yet another jump in syphilis cases in newborns, U.S. health officials are calling for stepped-up prevention measures, including encouraging millions of women of childbearing age and their partners to get tested for the sexually transmitted disease. More than 3,700 babies were born with congenital syphilis...

About 600 kids come to UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh each year for heart operations. The demand for care is so great that the Lawrenceville hospital is expanding its Heart Institute to handle the growing number of patients. Many patients travel from outside the state or country. “This year is...

More than 40% of American adults are considered obese, yet the medications many take are rarely tested in bigger bodies. That’s because they are not required to be included in drug studies. And often, they’re explicitly excluded. “Clinical trials and dosing instructions don’t always ensure that drugs will be safe...

Carnegie Mellon University has received a $25 million gift from longtime Trustee Ray Lane and his wife, Stephanie, to support the institution’s Computational Biology Department. Carnegie Mellon President Farnam Jahanian announced the gift in a note to campus Monday afternoon. He called it a “monumental investment” in an expanding area...

WASHINGTON — As U.S. doctors scale back their use of opioid painkillers, a new option for hard-to-treat pain is taking root: ketamine, the decades-old surgical drug that is now a trendy psychedelic therapy. Prescriptions for ketamine have soared in recent years, driven by for-profit clinics and telehealth services offering the...

Seven years after Pennsylvania legalized marijuana for medical use, lawmakers are debating whether to allow recreational use — and what that would look like. It has created quite a buzz in the evolving industry. “Pennsylvania has a lot of market potential,” said Brendan Mitchel- Chesebro, a marketing content manager for...

Insurance companies and health care advisers are bracing for an influx of customers seeking help with understanding Affordable Care Act insurance after they lost Medicaid coverage this year. April 1 saw the end of the pandemic-era extension for Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage. Recipients who didn’t need...

Federal health officials are expanding an investigation into potentially lead-tainted pouches of apple cinnamon fruit puree marketed for children amid reports of more illnesses and additional product recalls. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it has received reports of seven illnesses in at least five states possibly linked to...

A Jeannette pharmacist is taking her seat as the leader of an international pharmacy advocacy organization that works to care for senior patients. Deborah Milito of Diamond Pharmacy Services was installed as president of the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists on Oct. 26, after having spent a year as the...

After a final 26-hour negotiation meeting, unionized nurses at Allegheny General Hospital struck a deal with hospital management on a new contract. The three-year agreement between the 1,200 nurses and nurse practitioners represented by SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania and AGH’s parent company, Allegheny Health Network, will make significant investments in wages...

Most patients and family members visiting West Penn Hospital — especially those who park in the Liberty Avenue parking garage — pass Cora Brandon. The parking cashier, who started working at the Bloomfield hospital 17 years ago in the cafeteria, holds court behind her glass window to greet visitors or...

Westmoreland County-based Excela Health, which merged with Butler Health System in January to form Independence Health, lost $36.2 million in the fiscal year ending June 30, according to a new disclosure report. That’s $15 million more than losses reported in the previous fiscal year ending in June 2022, when it...

Every month, volunteers at the Mt. Pleasant Area Food Pantry see more and more unfamiliar faces. “This is the busiest we’ve ever been. Not just my pantry but every pantry,” said Marie Ochaba, head coordinator of the pantry at Church of God on West Main Street. “I’m probably signing up...

It’s time to pick health coverage for next year on the Affordable Care Act’s insurance marketplaces, and experts caution against focusing your choice on price alone. In order to prevent thousands of dollars in financial surprises, buyers should know what a plan covers, how it works and what costs you...

John Shields expects more calls to Allegheny Eye Associates in Lower Burrell from concerned customers after federal regulators issued another recall on eyedrops. The Food and Drug Administration has issued warnings for 26 over-the-counter eye care products because of the potential for infection that could result in partial vision loss...

NEW YORK — The U.S. infant mortality rate rose 3% last year — the largest increase in two decades, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. White and Native American infants, infant boys and babies born at 37 weeks or earlier had significant death rate increases. The CDC’s...