Trump is ‘fully fit’ to serve as commander in chief, his doctor says after recent physical
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Donald Trump’s doctor says the oldest man elected president is “fully fit” to serve as commander in chief as the White House released results Sunday of Trump’s recent physical exam. The 78-year-old Trump is 20 pounds lighter since his checkup as president in 2020 showed...
Covid pandemic exposed vulnerabilities but brought lessons in preparedness
Ordinary shopping trips became a scavenger hunt five years ago. Shoppers who felt fortunate enough to find toilet paper quickly filled their carts. Demand soared for items such as masks, lumber, liquor and computer chips. As covid-19 swept across the United States, empty store shelves spurred anxiety, heightened tensions and...
Pitt receives grant for AI-based breast cancer research
The PA Breast Cancer Coalition awarded a $100,000 research grant to two Pittsburgh-based researchers on Thursday morning to support a focus on artificial intellegence in breast cancer research and breast cancer recurrence. Through this grant, Dr. Shandong Wu, professor of radiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, will...
RFK Jr. claims HHS will determine the cause of autism by September
WASHINGTON — The nation’s top health agency will undertake a “massive testing and research effort” to determine the cause of autism, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Thursday. Kennedy, a longtime vaccine critic who has pushed a discredited theory that routine childhood shots cause the developmental...
Why ‘The Pitt’ hits home: Show resonates as fictional measles episode mirrors real life
Locals watching “The Pitt” already have reason to think the Max television series hits close to home with its portrayal of an emergency room in Pittsburgh. A recent episode also fits in with current events, although tariffs weren’t mentioned. The subject was measles, and whether an ER physician would recognize...
Independence Health cuts 151 workers, locations not specified
Independence Health System is laying off 151 employees as it looks to cut costs. Kelly Skoloda, chief marketing and communications officer for the financially challenged regional health care provider, confirmed the staff cuts Wednesday in a statement mirroring a message sent to employees by the system’s president and CEO, Ken...
Fetterman writes column on importance of weight loss drugs
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman says there is a drug on the market that has changed his life: Mounjaro. The drug, generally prescribed for Type 2 diabetes and weight loss, has also been touted for its heart health benefits. Fetterman suffered a stroke in May 2022. In a New York Times...
Texas measles outbreak tops 500 cases, including multiple at a day care in Lubbock
A day care facility in a Texas county that’s part of the measles outbreak has multiple cases, including children too young to be fully vaccinated, public health officials say. West Texas is in the middle of a still-growing measles outbreak with 505 cases reported on Tuesday. The state expanded the...
U.S. boosts Medicare payments to insurers by over $25 billion
The U.S. government will pay private Medicare Advantage plans more money next year than it originally proposed in January, a major win for insurance companies that have faced increasing scrutiny in Washington. The shares of insurers surged on the decision. UnitedHealth Group Inc. stock rose as much as 6.2%, CVS...
RFK Jr. says he plans to tell CDC to stop recommending fluoride in drinking water
SALT LAKE CITY — U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday said he plans to tell the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention soon to stop recommending fluoridation in communities nationwide. Kennedy also said he’s assembling a task force to focus on the issue. Also on Monday, the...
Ex-official says he was forced out of FDA after trying to protect vaccine safety data from RFK Jr.
WASHINGTON — Shortly before he was forced to resign, the nation’s top vaccine regulator says he refused to grant Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s team unrestricted access to a tightly held vaccine safety database, fearing that the information might be manipulated or even deleted. In an interview with The...
Measles cases up in Pa. and some counties lag behind school vaccination targets
In late March, a four-year-old in Erie County was diagnosed with measles, a highly contagious and incurable disease that, in rare cases, can cause brain damage and death. The child, who the county did not identify to the Capital-Star, had attended day care at Creative Learning Childcare in Erie, where...
RFK Jr. visits epicenter of Texas measles outbreak after death of 2nd child who was infected
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visited the epicenter of Texas’ still-growing measles outbreak on Sunday, the same day a funeral was held for a second young child who was not vaccinated and died from a measles-related illness. Kennedy said in a social media post that...
New study finds microplastics in chewing gum
Chewing gum fiends might want to think twice before popping in another piece of gum. A pilot study found that chewing gum can shed microplastics into saliva. Specifically, gum can release hundreds to thousands of microplastics per piece, which can potentially be ingested, according to the American Chemical Society. Microplastics...
Penn Township physical therapist helps to fill gap in care for fast heart rate syndrome
Doctors have pitched countless theories to Irwin resident Lauren Karcher regarding the laundry list of health problems she had experienced in the past 15 years. Emergency room doctors suspected she suffered from transient ischemic attacks — also known as mini-strokes — and a rheumatologist told her she was in the...
Aldi shredded cheese recalled for metal contamination
If you’ve purchased shredded cheese from Aldi recently, you might want to double check the brand. The Happy Farms by ALDI Colby Jack (a blend of Colby & Monterey Jack finely shredded cheeses) that has best-buy dates listed as July 13 and 14 have been recalled by the U.S. Food...
Westmoreland agency on aging celebrates uptick in staffing, performance rates
Carrie Nelson is proud to help prevent and address abuse, neglect and exploitation of elderly Westmoreland County residents. But when the county Area Agency on Aging lost 75% of its protective services care managers in the summer of 2022, Nelson, as executive director, was put in a difficult position. “We...
Senate confirms Mehmet Oz to take lead of Medicare and Medicaid agency
WASHINGTON — Former heart surgeon and TV pitchman Dr. Mehmet Oz was confirmed Thursday to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Oz became the agency’s administrator in a party line 53-45 vote. The 64-year-old will manage health insurance programs for roughly half the country, with oversight of Medicare,...
Shingles is awful, but here’s another reason to get vaccinated: It may fight dementia
WASHINGTON — A vaccine to fight dementia? It turns out there may already be one — shots that prevent painful shingles also appear to protect aging brains. A new study found shingles vaccination cut older adults’ risk of developing dementia over the next seven years by 20%. The research, published...
Supreme Court sides with the FDA in its dispute over sweet-flavored vaping products
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled for the Food and Drug Administration in its crackdown on sweet-flavored vaping products following a surge in teen electronic cigarette use. But the justices’ unanimous decision throwing out a federal appeals court ruling is not the final word in the case, and...
Mass firing of federal health workers includes Pittsburgh region
More than 200 federal employees who work at the Bruceton Research Center, a research facility south of Pittsburgh, will lose their jobs by June 30, they were told this week. They work at the Pittsburgh Mining Research Division of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, part of the...
There’s a new push to put whole milk back in school meals. Here’s what you should know
More than a dozen years after higher-fat milk was stripped from school meals to slow obesity in American kids and boost their health, momentum is growing to put it back. Federal lawmakers have revived bills that would allow whole and 2% milk to be served again in schools, in addition...
FDA’s top tobacco official is removed from post in latest blow to health agency’s leadership
WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration’s chief tobacco regulator has been removed from his post as part of sweeping cuts to the federal health workforce on Tuesday, the latest in a series of actions that have cleared out many of the nation’s top experts overseeing food, drugs, vaccines and...
Mass layoffs underway at the nation’s public health agencies
Employees across the massive U.S. Health and Human Services Department received notices Tuesday that their jobs were being eliminated, part of a sweeping overhaul designed to vastly shrink the agencies responsible for protecting and promoting Americans’ health. The cuts include researchers, scientists, doctors, support staff and senior leaders, leaving the...
Allergies hitting you already? You’re not alone
Sneezing earlier than normal? Congested? Eyes watery? You’re not alone or imagining it. Allergy specialists in Western Pennsylvania say allergy seasons are getting longer and intensifying. Patients with allergy symptoms started visiting Allegheny Health Network allergist and immunologist Dr. Ali Ayyash in mid-February. “Typically, the spring pollen season starts towards...
