Autism now more common among Black, Hispanic kids in U.S.
NEW YORK — For the first time, autism is being diagnosed more frequently in Black and Hispanic children than in white kids in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. Among all U.S. 8-year-olds, 1 in 36 had autism in 2020, the CDC estimated. That’s up...
Senators press Moderna CEO on covid-19 vaccine price hike
Moderna’s CEO on Wednesday defended a plan to more than quadruple the company’s covid-19 vaccine price, but he also said the drugmaker will work to ensure patients continue paying nothing at drugstores or clinics. Stephane Bancel told the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions that the drugmaker will...
Massachusetts governor: Pharmacies must stock abortion pills
BOSTON — The governor of Massachusetts reminded pharmacies Wednesday that they are required to stock a key abortion pill, despite a nationwide effort by anti-abortion activists to ban the medication. The action comes as a federal judge in Texas is considering a lawsuit that would overturn decades-old federal approval of...
Superbug fungus cases rose dramatically during pandemic
NEW YORK — U.S. cases of a dangerous fungus tripled over just three years, and more than half of states have now reported it, according to a new study. The covid-19 pandemic likely drove part of the increase, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wrote in the...
DEA warns horse tranquilizer xylazine is making fentanyl overdose crisis worseVideo
The drug xylazine, which has been linked to an increase in overdoses, has now been seized in 48 of 50 states, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced in an alert this week. Xylazine, also known as tranq, is often cut with fentanyl. Xylazine is legal as a horse tranquilizer, but it’s...
Martina Navratilova says doctors told her she is cancer-free
LONDON — Martina Navratilova returned to TV work at Tennis Channel for its coverage of the Miami Open on Tuesday, less than three months after saying she had throat cancer and breast cancer. “It’s great to be back. … Thrilled to be here,” said the 18-time Grand Slam singles champion...
Paul Newman’s camp for sick kids rises from the ashes
ASHFORD, Conn. — Amarey Brookshire was devastated when she heard about the fire at the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp for seriously ill children — her camp. The February 2021 blaze destroyed much of the retreat in the woods of eastern Connecticut, which was founded by the late actor...
Highmark reports loss in 2022, citing investment losses, supply chain and staffing woes
As with many health care systems, inflation, supply chain woes and staffing challenges took a bite out of Highmark Health’s finances during 2022. Highmark reported a net loss of $346 million on $26 billion in revenue. Excluding investment losses, the organization reported net earnings of about $47 million. Meanwhile, the...
Allegheny Health Network names new president
Allegheny Health Network has named its Chief Operating Officer James Benedict as president of the network. Benedict joined AHN as its executive vice president and COO in 2017. He “was one of the chief architects of the network’s successful operational turnaround and its nearly $2 billion capital investment and market...
Anthony Fauci documentary on PBS covers a career of crisesVideo
NEW YORK — There’s a moment in the new PBS documentary about Dr. Anthony Fauci when a protestor holds up a handmade sign reading, “Dr. Fauci, You Are Killing Us.” It says something about Fauci that it’s not initially clear when that sign was waved in anger — in the...
School library book bans are seen as targeting LGBTQ content
DES MOINES, Iowa — Teri Patrick bristles at the idea she wants to ban books about LGBTQ issues in Iowa schools, arguing her only goal is ridding schools of sexually explicit material. Sara Hayden Parris says that whatever you want to call it, it’s wrong for some parents to think...
‘Ted Lasso’ visits White House, promotes mental health careVideo
WASHINGTON — Fictional soccer coach Ted Lasso used a White House visit Monday to encourage people, even in politically divided Washington, to make it a point to check in often with friends, family and co-workers to “ask how they’re doing, and listen, sincerely,” Comedian Jason Sudeikis, who plays the title...
Did raccoon dogs start covid pandemic? Western Pa. experts weigh in
After international scientists discovered a potential link between the origin of the covid-19 virus and raccoon dogs, medical experts in Western Pennsylvania said the animal could be where the virus began. Samples collected from the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan, China — where the first human cases of covid-19 were...
Pa. delegation pushes to end opioid treatment co-pays, saying many people thwarted by cost
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey this week introduced a bill that would lower costs for people who need drug addiction treatment. Another Pennsylvania Democrat, U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean, said she would introduce a similar bill in the U.S. House. What would the bills do? Mainly, they would eliminate insurance deductibles and...
New covid origins data suggests pandemic linked to raccoon dogs
International scientists who examined previously unavailable genetic data from samples collected at a market close to where the first human cases of covid-19 were detected in China said they found suggestions the pandemic originated from animals, not a lab. Other experts have not yet verified their analysis, which also has...
Covid-19 pill Paxlovid moves closer to full FDA approval
WASHINGTON — Pfizer’s covid-19 pill Paxlovid won another vote of confidence from U.S. health advisers Thursday, clearing the way for its full regulatory approval by the Food and Drug Administration. The medication has been used by millions of Americans since the FDA granted it emergency use authorization in late 2021....
U.S. pregnancy deaths dropped in 2022, after covid spike
NEW YORK — Deaths of pregnant women in the U.S. fell in 2022, dropping significantly from a six-decade high during the pandemic, new data suggests. More than 1,200 U.S. women died in 2021 during pregnancy or shortly after childbirth, according to a final tally released Thursday by the Centers for...
Excela-Butler combined health system lays off 13 managers
The newly combined Excela and Butler health systems laid off a total of 13 manager-level staff members on Wednesday, according to spokesperson Tom Chakurda. The positions were eliminated “from across both sides of the new system,” Chakurda confirmed, and were from support functions that did not involve direct care personnel....
Not magic: Opaque AI tool may flag parents with disabilities
PITTSBURGH — For the two weeks that the Hackneys’ baby girl lay in a Pittsburgh hospital bed weak from dehydration, her parents rarely left her side, sometimes sleeping on the fold-out sofa in the room. They stayed with their daughter around the clock when she was moved to a rehab...
Conn. woman 1st non-Vermonter granted assisted suicide right
MONTPELIER, Vt. — Lynda Bluestein has terminal cancer and knows she’ll likely die soon, but until Tuesday, she didn’t know if she’d be able to choose how or when and whether her family, friends and dog would be with her when the time comes. The 75-year-old from Bridgeport, Connecticut, reached...
Pfizer buys Seagen for $43B, boosts access to cancer drugs
Pfizer is spending about $43 billion to reach deeper into new cancer treatments that target tumor cells while sparing surrounding healthy tissue. The pharmaceutical giant said Monday it will pay $229 in cash for each share of Seagen Inc. Pfizer then plans to let the biotech drug developer “continue innovating,”...
Determining if someone is mentally fit for trial in Pa. often traps them in the place making them worse — jail
This story is a collaboration between Spotlight PA and the Pittsburgh Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, published as part of a Pittsburgh Media Partnership project. Sign up for Spotlight PA’s free newsletters here. Rachel Bridgeman thought she could hear God. Locked in the Allegheny County Jail, she slid from reality. The...
House votes to declassify info about origins of covid-19
WASHINGTON — The House voted unanimously on Friday to declassify U.S. intelligence information about the origins of covid-19, a sweeping show of bipartisan support near the third anniversary of the start of the deadly pandemic. The 419-0 vote was final approval of the bill, sending it to President Joe Biden’s...
UPMC nurse lost job for speaking publicly about staffing shortages, labor complaint says
A nurse at UPMC Altoona was illegally retaliated against and fired after she spoke to local media about staffing shortages and working conditions, according to a complaint from the National Labor Relations Board. UPMC on Friday defended its actions, saying that the nurse in question was a contractor on temporary...
Anxiety, fear fill West Virginia transgender-health clinic
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The tiny clinic where physicians prescribe hormones and other medications to transgender teenagers shares the same campus where West Virginia kids travel to receive treatments for rare cancer, heart surgery and other health care difficult to get anywhere else. In a rural state purported to have the...
