Health category, Page 60

Vaping exposes users to around 2,000 chemicals, including potentially harmful industrial compounds, according to a study of four popular brands by researchers at Johns Hopkins University. Most of the chemicals found were unidentified, but of those that were, six were cause for concern, according to the study published in Chemical...

WASHINGTON — Donna Weiner looks at Medicare’s prescription drug program from two different points of view. As a participant, she wants to pay less for her medicines, which cost her about $6,000 a year. As a retired accountant who spent 50 years handling the books for companies, she sees a...

WASHINGTON — Johnson & Johnson asked the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday to allow extra shots of its covid-19 vaccine as the U.S. government moves toward expanding its booster campaign to millions more vaccinated Americans. J&J said it filed a request with the FDA to authorize boosters for people...

Karen Baldridge rolled up her sleeve to get her covid-19 booster vaccine. “I’m trying to baby myself and (am) doing everything that I can to keep healthy,” she said this past week while at Excela Square at Norwin. “I feel there’s about a 90% chance I wouldn’t get (covid), but...

CLEVELAND — So many prescription painkillers were dispensed in Lake County, Ohio, between 2012 and 2016 that the amount equaled 265 pills for every resident. Just to the south, the flood of prescription opioids during the same period equated to 400 pills for every resident of Trumbull County. Attorneys say...

Still-growing demand among Western Pennsylvania seniors for Medicare Advantage plans has spurred a slew of new health coverage options featuring lower costs and better perks as insurers compete to grow their market shares. “This is a ripe market in Western Pa., and we’re able to take those dollars and invest...

Local doctors said a pill to treat covid-19 could help keep patients healthy and ease the burden on overstrained hospitals, though they’re eyeing the drug with cautious optimism while awaiting final data. Merck & Co. on Friday announced its experimental pill cut hospitalizations and deaths in half for people recently...

Family, friends and colleagues gathered on Friday at Heinz Memorial Chapel in Oakland to memorialize renowned orthopedist and sports medicine pioneer Dr. Freddie Fu. His daughter, Joyce Lok-See Fu, called the days leading up to her father’s Sept. 24 death surreal as she watched so many people share their stories...

MINNEAPOLIS — The United States reached its latest heartbreaking pandemic milestone Friday, eclipsing 700,000 deaths from covid-19 just as the surge from the delta variant is starting to slow down. It took 3 ½ months for the U.S. to go from 600,000 to 700,000 deaths, driven by the variant’s rampant...

WASHINGTON — Drugmaker Merck said Friday that its experimental covid-19 pill reduced hospitalizations and deaths by half in people recently infected with the coronavirus and that it would soon ask health officials in the U.S. and around the world to authorize its use. If cleared, the drug would be the...

The number of Americans opposed to getting a covid-19 vaccine reached a new low this month, a poll found. The Gallup poll, conducted Sept. 13-19, found fewer respondents than ever said they don’t plan to get a coronavirus vaccine while more than ever said they are already vaccinated or plan...

Amid all the focus on covid-19 vaccinations, U.S. health experts have another plea: Don’t skip your flu shot. Flu cases have dropped to historically low levels during the pandemic. The U.S. and Europe experienced hardly any flu last winter, and the Southern Hemisphere just ended its second flu season of...

Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — The failure by Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration to clarify federal rules around addiction treatment funding and medical marijuana caused...

WASHINGTON — Pfizer has submitted research to the Food and Drug Administration on the effectiveness of its covid-19 vaccine in children but the shots may not be available until November. The company said Tuesday it provided health regulators with data from a recent study of its vaccine in children 5...

Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf this week said he supports large investments to address a growing dementia care crisis in...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday endorsed booster shots for millions of older or otherwise vulnerable Americans, opening a major new phase in the U.S vaccination drive against covid-19. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky signed off on a series of recommendations from a panel of advisers late...

The Boppy Company and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a recall of 3.3 million loungers that have been attributed in the deaths of eight infants who “reportedly suffocated.” Recalled are the Boppy Original Newborn Loungers, Boppy Preferred Newborn Loungers and Pottery Barn Kids Boppy Newborn Loungers. According to...

A wheelchair sits folded near the front door. It’s a constant reminder. “There was a time I relied on that because I was too heavy and it was hard to walk,” said Bruce Altemus, 69. “I was too big and too sick to do much of anything. I never want...

The United States moved a step closer Wednesday to offering booster doses of Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine to senior citizens and others at high risk from the virus as the Food and Drug Administration signed off on the targeted use of extra shots. The FDA authorized booster doses for Americans who...

Pfizer said Monday its covid-19 vaccine works for children ages 5 to 11 and that it will seek U.S. authorization for this age group soon — a key step toward beginning vaccinations for youngsters. The vaccine made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech already is available for anyone 12...

Eric Baysinger messaged a photo of himself hooked to an oxygen machine, plastic tubing in his nose, to help him breathe. “This is my current situation,” Baysinger said. The recipient of the picture, Moritz Jahr, was 4,026 miles away. The minute he saw the image he asked what was wrong....

Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. Pennsylvania is headed for a profound eldercare crisis, experts warn, as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia rates continue to climb, the state’s...

WASHINGTON — An influential federal advisory panel overwhelmingly rejected a plan Friday to offer Pfizer booster shots against covid-19 to most Americans, dealing a heavy blow to the Biden administration’s effort to shore up people’s protection amid the highly contagious delta variant. The vote by the committee of outside experts...