Health category, Page 57

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday permanently loosened a key restriction on abortion pills, eliminating a long-standing requirement that the medication be picked up in person. Millions of American women will now be able to get a prescription via an online consultation and receive the pills through...

The U.S. death toll from covid-19 topped 800,000 on Tuesday, a once-unimaginable figure seen as doubly tragic, given that more than 200,000 of those lives were lost after the vaccine became available practically for the asking last spring. The number of deaths, as compiled by Johns Hopkins University, is about...

McMINNVILLE, Ore. — The opioid epidemic blew into this picturesque Oregon town like a toxic wind, leaving overdoses, addiction, homelessness and wrecked families in its wake. In a humble, single-story brick building, three blocks from downtown McMinnville’s wine-tasting rooms and cafes, staffers and volunteers of a recovery center called Provoking...

WASHINGTON — Pfizer said Tuesday that its experimental pill to treat covid-19 appears effective against the omicron variant. The company also said full results of its 2,250-person study confirmed the pill’s promising early results against the virus: The drug reduced combined hospitalizations and deaths by about 89% among high-risk adults...

Researchers say that thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars have been saved in the United States by recent reductions in emissions from vehicles. Harvard University researchers who study the environment and public health examined the impact of declines in emissions from vehicles over a decade. They found...

The card has an image of a lamp post illuminated and decorated with a bright red bow and encircled with strands of greenery. Inside there is a holiday greeting: “We wish you a joyous holiday and warmth filled New Year.” On the back is a message: “If my card touched...

At first sight, wheelchairs, crutches and leg braces might not be associated with exercising. But seeing what the people who use those devices can do might change one’s perspective. They lift weights, skate on sleds and shoot a hockey puck 60 mph. They pound tires with a sledgehammer and drive...

Midway into the pandemic, University of Alabama epidemiologist Bertha Hidalgo realized her covid-19 communication strategy needed a makeover. She was skipping basic biology lessons in favor of simply telling people the best ways to moderate their behavior in response to the virus. Instead of helping people better understand the virus,...

A rush of vaccine-seeking customers and staff shortages are squeezing drugstores around the U.S., leading to frazzled workers and temporary pharmacy closures. Drugstores are normally busy this time of year with flu shots and other vaccines, but now pharmacists are doling out a growing number of covid-19 shots and giving...

New autism numbers released Thursday suggest more U.S. children are being diagnosed with the developmental condition and at younger ages. In an analysis of 2018 data from nearly a dozen states, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that among 8-year-olds, 1 in 44 had been diagnosed...

Sean Rovers and Kaylee Kruise met during radiation treatments for brain cancer at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh in Lawrenceville. They endured many of the same experiences, from IVs and blood tests to operations and pain. It was during their time there the youngsters discovered they shared a birthday —...

Despite confronting spiking staffing costs while covid-19 hospitalizations climb, Allegheny Health Network’s leaders say they’re confident in the 14-hospital system’s ability to treat influxes in patients as the pandemic rages on. “We have capacity and we’ve got the equipment that we need,” AHN Chief Financial Officer James Rohrbaugh told the...

WASHINGTON — A panel of U.S. health advisers on Tuesday narrowly backed a closely watched covid-19 pill from Merck, setting the stage for a likely authorization of the first drug that Americans could take at home to treat the coronavirus. A Food and Drug Administration panel voted 13-10 that the...

JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s rapid increase in covid-19 cases attributed to the new omicron variant is resulting in mostly mild symptoms, doctors say. “We’ve seen a sharp increase in cases for the past 10 days. So far they have mostly been very mild cases, with patients having flu-like symptoms: dry...

The deadline is approaching for seniors and people with disabilities to sign up for a Medicare-eligible health insurance plan for 2022. Enrollment closes Dec. 7 for coverage that begins Jan. 1. Medicare Advantage plans are privately offered alternatives to traditional Medicare and supplemental government-provided plans. They’ve long been popular in...

Federal health regulators say an experimental covid-19 pill from Merck is effective against the virus, but they will seek input from outside experts on risks of birth defects and other potential problems during pregnancy. The Food and Drug Administration posted its analysis of the pill ahead of a public meeting...

UPMC and the staffing agency that placed with them a radiology technician who infected dozens of patients with hepatitis C continue to battle over who should bear the cost of millions of dollars in court settlements. Court documents show UPMC has paid more than $4 million to settle litigation over...

A Kentucky doctor who admitted reaping more than $500,000 in illegal kickbacks from the owner of a now-defunct Westmoreland County drug testing lab will serve two years of home detention, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. John Baird, 55, a Louisville physician who specializes in physical medicine, rehabilitation and pain management,...

UPMC is poised to log another record year of billion-dollar revenue growth in 2021, records made public Tuesday show. The health giant headquartered in Downtown Pittsburgh’s U.S. Steel Tower raked in $18 billion between January and September — about $1 billion more than it made by this time last year,...

WASHINGTON — The U.S. on Friday opened covid-19 booster shots to all adults and took the extra step of urging people 50 and older to seek one, aiming to ward off a winter surge as coronavirus cases rise even before millions of Americans travel for the holidays. Until now, Americans...

Medical scrubs emblazoned with pro-worker slogans blew in the chilly wind Thursday afternoon against the backdrop of Downtown Pittsburgh’s U.S. Steel Tower, home to the corporate offices of nonprofit health giant UPMC. Clipped to makeshift clotheslines tied to trees along Grant Street, the hospital uniform tops displayed hand-written messages such...

An estimated 100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in one year, a never-before-seen milestone that health officials say is tied to the covid-19 pandemic and a more dangerous drug supply. Overdose deaths have been rising for more than two decades, accelerated in the past two years and, according to new...

NEW YORK — An influential U.S. advisory panel will discuss expanding eligibility for covid-19 vaccine booster shots to all adults Friday, a move that could make the shots available nationwide as early as this weekend. Some cities and states already allow all adults to get boosters of Pfizer’s vaccine, but...

Hot orange sparks rained down on freshly erected steel beams Tuesday morning as construction workers welded and hammered while harnessed to high-rise scaffolds and aerial lifts overlooking the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh. Two giant cranes rotated nonstop, hoisting building materials weighing thousands of pounds across the busy construction site of...