Satchels of Caring Foundation closing after nearly 2 decades giving hope to cancer patients
Over the course of 19 years, these hand-sewn fabric bags contained more than scarves, journals and tissues. They also carried hope for recipients dealing with cancer. What started as a project in 2003 through the American Cancer Society, the Satchels of Caring Foundation was formed initially to help women who...
Some Pa. cannabis companies use misleading statements to promote marijuana for addiction treatment
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 — Some Pennsylvania cannabis companies are using incomplete or misleading claims to promote marijuana as a treatment for opioid addiction,...
What’s the true covid death toll in Pa.? New analysis sheds light
For many reasons, it’s hard to know the full impact of the covid-19 pandemic. Some deaths may have gone uncounted for reasons such as the person died at home and was never tested. A person may have died from an existing disease exacerbated by covid-19. Or a person may have...
A mild U.S. flu season is waning, but is it really over?
This winter’s mild flu season has faded to a trickle of cases in much of the U.S., but health officials aren’t ready to call it over. Since the beginning of the year, positive flu test results and doctor’s office visits for flu-like illness are down. But second waves of influenza...
Health care leaders and Alzheimer’s Association officials celebrate passage of state lawVideo
A new state law promotes Alzheimer’s awareness and, its backers say, will help provide assistance to families impacted by it and other degenerative diseases. Local health care leaders and other officials gathered Thursday at Presbyterian SeniorCare Network’s facility in Oakmont to celebrate the Early Detection and Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s or...
UPMC opens primary and specialty care facility in Edgeworth
Sewickley area residents seeking primary and specialty care at a UPMC facility now have an option that’s closer to home. A new UPMC Primary and Specialty Care facility opened in Edgeworth, and the healthcare giant is excited about it. “This is what we call a UPMC outpatient center,” said Mark...
Covid-19 vaccine in pregnancy may protect babies after birth
Covid-19 vaccines during pregnancy can protect babies after they’re born and lead to fewer hospitalized infants, a U.S. government study released Tuesday suggested. The study is the first to show potential benefits to infants born to people who received two doses of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines during pregnancy, Centers for...
Covid mask mandates are ending, but should you keep wearing one? What experts say
Covid-19 mask mandates are ending across the United States, and while many may take that as a sign that it’s time to quit covering up, experts say there’s a lot to consider before going barefaced in public. Though cases are plummeting, deaths and hospitalizations remain high, proving covid is still...
Bill to protect doctors prescribing ivermectin, other unproven drugs against covid advances in Pa.
A state House committee on Monday approved a bill that would free doctors to prescribe off-label drugs to treat covid-19 and allow pharmacists to fill the prescriptions, also without penalty. The bill was authored by Republican state Rep. Dawn Keefer of York County. It was approved by the health committee...
Emotional support or hogwash? Man fights to keep his pet pig
CANAJOHARIE, N.Y. — Ellie the potbellied pig snuggles up to Wyverne Flatt when he watches TV and sometimes rolls over to let him pet her belly. The 110-pound pig is “family,” Flatt says, an emotional support animal who helped him through a divorce and the death of his mother. Officials...
Bethel Park woman meets the Beaver County man to whom she donated a kidney
Erin Prindle is a trail runner. The Bethel Park mom laces up her Saucony shoes and ventures out. She often takes new paths. “I love running in the woods and being in nature; it’s cathartic,” she said. “Navigating a new trail is like life in the way that sometimes you...
Novavax says protein vaccine works for kids as young as 12
Novavax announced Thursday that its covid-19 vaccine proved safe and effective in a study of 12- to 17-year-olds. Novavax makes a protein-based vaccine — a different type than the most widely used shots — that’s a late arrival to the covid-19 arsenal. Its shots have been cleared for use in...
CDC proposes softer guidance on opioid prescriptions
NEW YORK — The nation’s top public health agency on Thursday proposed changing — and in some instances, softening — guidelines for U.S. doctors prescribing oxycodone and other opioid painkillers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s previous guidance, issued six years ago, helped slow the kind of prescribing that...
Report: U.S. fight against opioid abuse needs new strategy
WASHINGTON — The U.S. needs a nimble, multipronged strategy and Cabinet-level leadership to counter its festering overdose epidemic, a bipartisan congressional commission advises. With vastly powerful synthetic drugs like fentanyl driving record overdose deaths, the scourge of opioids awaits after the covid-19 pandemic finally recedes, a shift that public health...
Strained U.S. hospitals seek foreign nurses amid visa windfall
With American hospitals facing a dire shortage of nurses amid a slogging pandemic, many are looking abroad for health care workers. And it could be just in time. There’s an unusually high number of green cards available this year for foreign professionals, including nurses, who want to move to the...
Medicare opens up access to free at-home covid-19 tests
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration, seeking to fill a frustrating gap in coverage for covid-19 tests, Thursday announced that people with Medicare will be able to get free over-the-counter tests much more easily in the coming weeks. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said Medicare will cover up to...
Franklin Park woman advocates for women’s heart health via National Wear Red Day
The pin on Kim Leo’s outfit is a sparkling accessory. It’s there to make a statement – but not a fashion statement. She wears it to send a heartfelt message. The shiny piece of red jewelry in the shape of a dress represents the symbol for the American Heart Association’s...
Biden aims to reduce cancer deaths by 50% over next 25 years
President Joe Biden is committing to reduce the cancer death rate by 50% — a new goal for the “moonshot” initiative against the disease that was announced in 2016 when he was vice president. Biden has set a 25-year timeline for achieving that goal, part of his broader effort to...
UPMC says new treatment Evusheld reduces covid risk for immunocompromised
UPMC doctors say they are encouraged by the effectiveness of a new, preventative monoclonal antibody treatment that is administered to immunocompromised people before they contract covid-19. The two-shot Evusheld treatment received emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration in early December, and UPMC got its first doses later...
Moderna announces full U.S. approval for its covid vaccine
WASHINGTON — Moderna announced Monday that U.S. health regulators granted full approval to its covid-19 vaccine, a shot that’s been given to tens of millions of Americans since its emergency authorization over a year ago. The action by the Food and Drug Administration means the agency has completed the same...
Pa. hospitals wrestle with nursing shortages as pandemic drags on
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Holding onto hope inside a covid ICU: ‘It’s like working in a war zone’Video
Inside a room in the intensive care unit at Allegheny Health Network’s Jefferson Hospital, a covid-infected man lies prone on his stomach, hooked up to a ventilator that is breathing for him. The room is noisy, even though the man can’t speak. Chimes and beeps are accompanied by the constant,...
Pa. hospitals wrestle with nursing shortages as pandemic drags on
The stress of a two-year pandemic combined with an aging workforce and shortage of teachers has led to a critical staffing shortage among nurses. Joy Peters, chief nursing officer for Allegheny Health Network’s Jefferson Hospital, said staffing levels in almost every department at Jefferson are down 30% to 40% from...
Western Pennsylvania experts advocating in support of doulas
Doulas provide physical, emotional and informational support for parents during labor. The care these individuals provide is not usually covered by health insurance. There is movement towards having their services paid for, as well as certifications for all doulas, said Robert Ferguson, chief policy officer for the Jewish Healthcare Foundation...
Pittsburgh Bereavement Doulas embrace parents through the loss of a baby
Their tiny hands will never hold on to their parents. Their small feet will never take a step. Their eyes will never open wide with wonder. The unthinkable death of a baby is a moment that lives on in a parent’s heart forever. The heartache of losing them is infinite....
