UPMC, Pitt to test ‘revolutionary’ breast cancer vaccine
UPMC and University of Pittsburgh researchers will test a vaccine to prevent breast cancer in what they say is a revolutionary step in the fight against the most common cancer in women. The seed money — $100,000 — to launch the clinical trial came from the Wexford-based nonprofit, Glimmer of...
MedExpress to eliminate nursing positions
MedExpress Urgent Care is eliminating nursing positions at its nearly 150 locations. Tribune-Review news partner WTAE-TV reported that the workers are being let go in an effort to revamp the clinic’s staffing model. It’s unknown how many workers will be affected or what the new staffing plan is. Several nurses...
Highmark among insurers that won’t cover new Alzheimer’s treatment for some customers
Some private insurers are balking at paying for the first drug fully approved to slow mental decline in Alzheimer’s patients. Insurers selling coverage in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and New York, among other states, told The Associated Press they won’t cover Leqembi with insurance offered on the individual market and through...
U.S. suicides hit all-time high in 2022
NEW YORK — About 49,500 people took their own lives last year in the U.S., the highest number ever, according to new government data posted Thursday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which posted the numbers, has not yet calculated a suicide rate for the year, but available data...
Pittsburgh-area health insurers request rate increases
The Pittsburgh region’s biggest health insurers are seeking rate increases for plans on the individual market, some up to 13%, according to the Pennsylvania Insurance Department. Highmark Inc. is asking for an average rate increase of 11.2% and the Highmark Coverage Advantage Inc. insurance plan is requesting an increase of...
U.S. covid-19 hospitalizations rising again, but not like before
Here we go again: Covid-19 hospital admissions have inched upward in the United States since early July in a small-scale echo of the three previous summers. With an updated vaccine still months away, this summer bump in new hospitalizations might be concerning, but the number of patients is far lower...
Soaring sales of diabetes drug Mounjaro, widely used for weight loss, sends Eli Lilly to new heights
INDIANAPOLIS — Eli Lilly’s diabetes treatment Mounjaro, which is widely used for weight loss, raked in nearly $1 billion in second-quarter sales, or more than $200 million above what Wall Street had expected. Shares of the drugmaker soared 17% to an all-time-high Tuesday after Lilly said Mounjaro sales swelled more...
Covid cases rise slightly but remain low compared to previous years in Western Pa.
Despite a slight increase in the number of covid-19 cases across the country, rates remain low, and they are far below the past few summers, both regionally and nationally. “Overall, we’ve had a pretty flat trajectory,” LuAnn Brink, chief epidemiologist for the Allegheny County Health Department, said Monday. “The changes...
Attacks at U.S. medical centers show why health care is one of nation’s most violent fields
Word spread through an Oregon hospital last month that a visitor was causing trouble in the maternity ward, and nurses were warned the man might try to abduct his partner’s newborn. Hours later, the visitor opened fire, killing a security guard and sending patients, nurses and doctors scrambling for cover....
FDA approves first postpartum depression pill
WASHINGTON — Federal health officials have approved the first pill specifically intended to treat severe depression after childbirth, a condition that affects thousands of new mothers in the U.S. each year. The Food and Drug Administration on Friday granted approval of the drug, Zurzuvae, for adults experiencing severe depression related...
Fall abortion battle propels huge early voter turnout for an Ohio special election next week
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A hastily called summer special election over a Republican-pushed measure that would make it harder for Ohio voters to pass future constitutional amendments, including one on the November ballot to guarantee abortion rights, has driven off-the-charts early turnout before Tuesday’s final day of voting. Early turnout has...
CDC: Babies should get recently approved drug for RSV
Infants should get a recently approved drug to protect them against a respiratory virus that sends tens of thousands of American children to the hospital each year, U.S. health officials said Thursday. An infection with RSV is a coldlike nuisance for most healthy people, but it can be life-threatening for...
Independence Health hospital presidents focus on future plans
After reported losses of $62 million and hundreds of staff cuts, Independence Health System’s two new hospital presidents confirmed Monday that all five of the system’s hospitals — Westmoreland, Frick, Latrobe, Butler Memorial and Clarion — are part of the system’s future. “Our leadership team right now strongly believes that...
Brain fog and other long covid symptoms are the focus of new small treatment studies
WASHINGTON — The National Institutes of Health is beginning a handful of studies to test possible treatments for long covid, an anxiously awaited step in U.S. efforts against the mysterious condition that afflicts millions. The announcement on Monday from the NIH’s $1.15 billion RECOVER project comes amid frustration from patients...
Paperwork problems drive surge in people losing Medicaid health coverage
JEFERSON CITY, Mo. — The nation’s top health official implored states to do more to keep lower-income residents enrolled in Medicaid, as the Biden administration released figures Friday confirming that many who had health coverage during the coronavirus pandemic are now losing it. Though a decline in Medicaid coverage was...
Meat allergy caused by tick spit is getting more common, CDC says
NEW YORK — More than 100,000 people in the U.S. have become allergic to red meat since 2010 because of a weird syndrome triggered by tick bites, according to a government report released Thursday. But health officials believe many more have the problem and don’t know it. A second report...
Sesame is being newly added to some foods. The FDA says it doesn’t violate a allergy law
Food manufacturers who deliberately add sesame to products and include the ingredient on labels are not violating a new federal food allergy law, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday. The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a food safety advocacy group, had petitioned the FDA to halt...
Life sciences company brings corporate headquarters to Lawrenceville
A drug development company is sinking its roots further into the region, moving its corporate headquarters to Lawrenceville after expanding its laboratory in the neighborhood. Predictive Oncology Inc., a publicly traded company that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to accelerate oncology drug discovery, recently expanded its footprint to nearly...
Beaver County communities to receive $5 million from Shell cracker settlement
Beaver County will receive $5 million as part of a settlement over air quality violations at Shell Chemical Appalachia’s cracker plant to use for community projects. The funding is due to a consent order announced in May in which Shell Chemicals Appalachia agreed to pay nearly $10 million for air...
Covid infections ‘a much less scary beast’ now for region, health experts say
Hospital systems and experts say covid-19’s impact on health care and everyday lives is decreasing, while cautioning that the virus is and will remain present in Western Pennsylvania. New Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows that nationally, the number of people dying in the United States every week...
Pollution from Canada’s wildfires was similar to breathing secondhand smoke indoors, study shows
The Canadian wildfires this summer exposed people to secondhand smoke at levels not seen since smoking was banned indoors in 2006, according to preliminary findings from Rutgers University researchers. Since the worst of the pollution from June 6 to 8, Philadelphia and other East Coast cities have continued to experience...
Independence Health announces 4 members of leadership team
Independence Health System officially has a new leadership team, composed of four longtime department heads from the system’s component parts of Butler Health System and Excela Health. On Thursday, Independence introduced Dr. Carol Fox as chief medical officer; Dr. David Rottinghaus as president of Physician and Provider Network; Karen Allen...
UPMC appoints physician to senior vice president role
UPMC has named Dr. Oscar Marroquin as senior vice president, UPMC, and president of UPMC Physician Services Division, including president of University of Pittsburgh Physicians. He will oversee UPP and Community Medicine, which includes more than 5,000 employed physicians and staff. Marroquin is currently UPMC’s chief health care data and...
Medical marijuana company to close Pennsylvania operations, laying off 76
A medical marijuana company, Goodblend Pennsylvania LLC, is closing its operations in the state, affecting 76 jobs. The company has a facility on Beaver Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Chateau neighborhood, which is expected to shutter by Sept. 15. It also has dispensaries along Baum Boulevard in Friendship and one in Erie,...
Anonymous donations to World Health Organization’s new foundation raise concerns
Nearly 40% of the money raised by the WHO Foundation in its first two years came from anonymous sources, worrying some that donors may be trying to influence the World Health Organization and its role in shaping global health policy with their gifts. The foundation, launched in 2020 to help...
