Health official calls for separating measles combination shots, pulls broad covid vaccine support
A top U.S. health official on Monday called for the combined measles-mumps-rubella shot to be broken up, drawing a quick rebuke from vaccine maker Merck, which said there is no scientific evidence that shows any benefit to doing so. The U.S. CDC earlier on Monday pulled broad support for covid-19...
Western Pennsylvania’s Mark Christman champions FSHD awareness
Mark J. Christman doesn’t have the strength to hold his nearly 8-month-old grandson, William “Willie” Chavara. “I am weaker every year,” said Christman, who was diagnosed in 1977 with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD), a genetic disorder that weakens skeletal muscles. “I can’t get in and out of bed myself or...
Though wary of covid shots, these Trump voters balk at restricting traditional vaccines
Chad Hill thinks some questions need to be asked about vaccines. Hill has harbored doubts about the covid-19 vaccine since it was introduced, due to how quickly it was developed and released. He suspects that medical experts who pushed the vaccine were compromised by ties to drugmakers. And he supported...
Health Secretary Kennedy speeds autism drug with GSK help
Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. could deliver a policy win for the Trump administration in just a few months after the Food and Drug Administration enlisted GSK to help it fast-track approval of a decades-old drug to treat an autism-related disorder. The FDA’s unusual move will allow it to...
Yoga in Sewickley fosters wellness and communityVideo
Yoga in Sewickley is a place to relax the body and the mind. Sharon Beddard Hess always tries to start each class with an intention, something to focus on because, to her, teaching yoga isn’t just about “going in there and exercising.” “This is a body, mind, practice,” Hess said....
Conservatives furious as FDA approves new generic abortion pill
The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new generic version of the abortion drug mifepristone, as conservatives slammed the decision as a stab in the back to the anti-abortion movement. The new generic mifepristone is manufactured by Evita Solutions, which says its mission is to “normalize abortion” and make...
UnitedHealth to exit Medicare Advantage plans in 16 U.S. counties
NEW YORK — UnitedHealth said it will stop offering Medicare Advantage plans in 16 U.S. counties in 2026, impacting 180,000 members, as the company balances higher costs with reimbursement pressure in the insurance program. “The combination of (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) funding cuts, rising healthcare costs and increased utilization...
Trump executive order aims to use AI to boost childhood cancer research
CHICAGO — U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday to bolster the use of artificial intelligence and provide an additional $50 million in research grants aimed at finding cures for childhood cancers, according to a White House official. The order builds on the National Cancer Institute’s Childhood...
Trump announces Pfizer price cuts as White House presses drugmakers
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Pfizer will cut the price of all prescription drugs in the Medicaid program for low-income Americans and sell new prescription drugs at a “most favored nation” price in exchange for tariff relief. Trump also said he expects other drugmakers to follow suit....
Older, disabled Pennsylvanians bear brunt of home care staffing crisis
Lisa Sprague does what she can on her own, but nerve damage caused by multiple sclerosis means she needs help getting out of bed, bathing and completing other daily tasks. The state pays for 13 hours of care every day at her Harmar home, a bungalow retrofitted with a wheelchair...
Europe banned certain gel nail polishes. Will the U.S. follow suit?
A common chemical found in gel nail polish was banned in Europe. Will the United States do the same? It’s unlikely, experts say. The European Union banned the chemical trimethylbenzoyl diphenylphosphine oxide, or TPO, in May because of a possible link to fertility problems based on animal studies, the New...
Giant Eagle plans to invest $100M in strategic push amid heavy competition
Flush with cash after selling GetGo for $1.6 billion, Giant Eagle is prepared to spend more than $100 million to renovate stores and show customers it’s serious about lowering prices. The investment spree started Thursday and will run through 2026, marking the start of a “new era” for Giant Eagle,...
Trump’s touting of an unproven autism drug surprised many, including the doctor who proposed it
WASHINGTON — When President Donald Trump’s administration announced it would repurpose an old, generic drug as a new treatment for autism, it came as a surprise to many experts — including the physician who suggested the idea to the nation’s top health officials. Dr. Richard Frye told The Associated Press...
Florida docs can turn away unvaccinated patients; Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to change that
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — In Florida, you can’t turn away a patient on the basis of their race, color, sex, religion or national origin. But a doctor can turn someone away if they’re unvaccinated. Gov. Ron DeSantis and Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo want to end that. In a news conference earlier...
Pa. families risk higher premiums as leaders urge feds to save insurance tax credits
Indiana County resident Tony Gonzales and his wife are just two of the almost half a million Pennsylvanians who could be hit with sharp health insurance price hikes next year. The college professor said he and his wife enrolled in Pennie, Pennsylvania’s Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance exchange, about...
‘Nightmare bacteria’ cases increasing in the U.S.
NEW YORK — Infection rates from drug-resistant “nightmare bacteria” rose almost 70% between 2019 and 2023, according to a new report from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientists. Bacteria that are difficult to treat due to the so-called NDM gene primarily drove the increase, CDC researchers wrote in an...
Doctors turn to each other, not CDC, for medical advice
Most of the medical community once looked to an influential federal vaccine panel for guidance on immunizations. But after the discussions and recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine panel veered from scientific consensus last week — and toward the vaccine-skeptical beliefs of Health and Human Services...
Pa., wary of federal guidance, turns to medical groups for vaccine advice
Pennsylvanians should get vaccine advice from professional medical associations, not Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services, state officials said Monday. The Pennsylvania Department of Health is telling patients and doctors to consult three organizations for guidance on shots: the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy...
Dr. Trump? The president reprises his covid era, this time sharing unproven medical advice on autism
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump isn’t a doctor. But he played one on TV Monday, offering copious amounts of unproven medical advice that he suggested — often without providing evidence — might help reduce autism rates. Trump repeatedly implored pregnant women to avoid taking the painkiller Tylenol, the bestselling form...
Darfur cholera cases rising at an ‘alarming’ rate as death toll in Sudan tops 3,000, says WHO
GENEVA — The number of reported cholera cases is increasing in Darfur and more than 3,000 people across all of Sudan have died from the illness over the last 14 months of civil war, the U.N. health agency said Tuesday. The current outbreak of the bacterial infection caused by contaminated...
What is known about autism’s causes and any potential link to Tylenol
WASHINGTON — Many doctors and scientists were reeling Monday after President Donald Trump went on TV to insist that pregnant women should never take Tylenol and revive debunked theories about vaccines and autism. Trump went beyond his own Food and Drug Administration’s more modest advice that doctors “should consider minimizing”...
Trump promotes unproven ties between Tylenol, vaccines and autism without new evidenceVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday used the platform of the presidency to promote unproven and in some cases discredited ties between Tylenol, vaccines and autism as his administration announced a wide-ranging effort to study the causes of the complex brain disorder. “Don’t take Tylenol,” Trump instructed pregnant women...
How to get a covid-19 shot and ensure it’s covered by your insurance
Drugstores are ready to deliver updated covid-19 vaccines this fall and insurers plan to pay for them, even though the shots no longer come recommended by an important government committee. On Friday, vaccine advisers picked by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declined to specifically recommend the shots but said...
Kennedy’s vaccine advisers change covid shot guidance, calling them an individual choice
ATLANTA — Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s new vaccine advisers added confusion Friday to this fall’s covid-19 vaccinations — declining to recommend them for anyone and leaving the choice up to those who want a shot. Until now, the vaccinations had been recommended as a routine step in the...
Experts weigh in on new federal childhood vaccine guidance
A federal recommendation against giving youngsters a single catchall shot for measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox falls in line with existing practices, medical experts told TribLive Friday. The combined vaccine, abbreviated as MMRV, should no longer be given to children under 4 years old, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices...
