Gilead’s $2,340 price for coronavirus drug draws criticismVideo
The maker of a drug shown to shorten recovery time for severely ill covid-19 patients says it will charge $2,340 for a typical treatment course for people covered by government health programs in the United States and other developed countries. Gilead Sciences announced the price Monday for remdesivir, and said...
Summer may decide fate of lead shots in virus vaccine race
People on six continents already are getting jabs in the arm as the race for a covid-19 vaccine enters a defining summer, with even bigger studies poised to prove if any shot really works — and maybe offer a reality check. Already British and Chinese researchers are chasing the coronavirus...
Uniontown hospice worker inspires baby doll donations for dementia patients
There’s something about cradling a tiny little baby in your arms. It’s comforting. It’s soothing. It’s natural. The feeling of seeing those sparkling innocent eyes and cute round face looking back at you is priceless. Hospice worker Amanda DeGusipe of Uniontown set out to awaken that memory for women with...
‘I’m just so angry’: Residents welcome grand jury report slamming Pa. oversight of fracking industry
Breathing problems, unexplained illness, constant noise, light and smell of chemicals — all problems caused to residents by the oil and gas industry, a statewide grand jury found. None of it sounded new to those who have been living near well pads and pipelines for years. Since the Marcellus shale...
Officials break ground for new UPMC St. Margaret New Kensington Family Health Center
A groundbreaking ceremony Friday marked a new home for UPMC St. Margaret New Kensington Family Health Center. The new facility should open in the spring, said Mary Lee Gannon, president of the St. Margaret Foundation. It will expand from a 4,700-square-foot building to 8,000 square feet. The health center will...
After waves of covid deaths, care homes face legal reckoning
PARIS — The muffled, gagging sounds in the background of the phone call filled Monette Hayoun with dread. Was her severely disabled 85-year-old brother, Meyer, choking on his food? Was he slowly suffocating like the Holocaust survivor who died a few months earlier in another of the care home’s bedrooms,...
Pittsburgh doctors document onset of Guillain-Barré Syndrome in covid-19 patient
Pittsburgh doctors found a potential connection between covid-19 and the onset of the autoimmune disorder Guillain-Barré Syndrome, according to a case study from Allegheny General Hospital. The neurologists, among the first in the country to document this link, published findings in the June issue of the Journal of Clinical Neuromuscular...
Tarentum nurse hosting free diabetes program for 3rd straight year
For a third straight year, a registered nurse is hosting a series of talks on diabetes in Tarentum. Denise Kissell, a certified diabetes care and education specialist, will hold the hourlong programs beginning at 5 p.m. every Tuesday in July under the pavilion at Riverview Memorial Park. The sessions, focusing...
U.S. warns against Mexican sanitizer gel containing methanol
MEXICO CITY — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning about a Mexican-made hand sanitizer gel that it said is dangerous because it contains large amounts of poisonous methanol, or wood alcohol. The FDA said the methanol “can be toxic when absorbed through the skin or ingested,”...
Brighton nursing home put majority of residents in ‘immediate jeopardy’ amid covid-19 outbreak, state survey says
Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center put a majority of its hundreds of residents in “immediate jeopardy” and potentially exposed healthy residents to covid-19 as recently as early May, records show. State health inspectors cited the already-embattled Beaver County nursing home for more than four dozen violations related to improper infection...
Son gives dad ‘new life’ with liver donation at UPMC
Michael Huey showed his 2-year-old son, Luke, the bond between father and son by giving his own dad a precious gift. Huey donated a portion of his liver to his father, Louis, a decision the son said was made out of love. “I prayed about it,” said Michael Huey, who...
Why do some covid-19 patients get seriously sick? It may be blood type, study finds
A genetic analysis of covid-19 patients suggests that blood type might influence whether someone develops severe disease. Scientists who compared the genes of thousands of patients in Europe found that those who had Type A blood were more likely to have severe disease while those with Type O were less...
EPA drops regulation for contaminant harming babies’ brains
The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday ended an Obama-era drive to regulate a widespread contaminant in drinking water linked to brain damage in infants. The agency rejected warnings that the move will mean lower IQs for an unknown number of American newborns. Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s announcement was the latest in...
Health officials: Some Lyme, covid-19 symptoms are similar
Preliminary data is showing that Pennsylvania is on track for its third year of declining incidents of Lyme disease, but an estimated 8,500 cases in 2019 still puts the state among the top five nationwide. As tick season ramps up to its peak in July, state health officials urge residents...
Pittsburgh’s MSA Safety repurposing industrial masks to use against covid-19
Hospitals are struggling with a global shortage of personal protective equipment during the covid-19 pandemic,
but one regional company received national acclaim for easing the burden. MSA Safety, founded in 1914 in Pittsburgh and now based in Cranberry, is a global manufacturer of safety equipment for mining, construction, energy and...
FDA revokes emergency use of hydroxychloroquine for treating coronavirusVideo
WASHINGTON — U.S. regulators on Monday revoked emergency authorization for malaria drugs promoted by President Donald Trump for treating covid-19 amid growing evidence they don’t work and could cause serious side effects. The Food and Drug Administration said the drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are unlikely to be effective in treating...
VA says it lacks adequate medical gear for 2nd virus wave
WASHINGTON — The Veterans Affairs Department on Tuesday defended itself against criticism of past shortages of masks and other medical gear to protect employees from the coronavirus but acknowledged its current supplies may not be enough to handle a second wave. Dr. Richard Stone, the top health official at VA,...
Allegheny Health Network to allow limited visitors at hospitals
Effective immediately, inpatient, observation, surgery and emergency department patients at Allegheny Health Network hospitals are permitted to have one healthy support person on site during visitation hours. As phased measures are implemented by state and local governments to adapt to evolving conditions of the covid-19 outbreak, AHN on Tuesday announced...
Can tear gas and pepper spray increase coronavirus spread?
Police departments have used tear gas and pepper spray on protesters in recent weeks, raising concern that the chemical agents could increase the spread of the coronavirus. The chemicals are designed to irritate the mucous membranes of the eyes, nose and throat. They make people cough, sneeze and pull off...
CDC report: Some Americans are gargling with bleach and drinking household cleaners to prevent coronavirus
A new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report indicates Americans are putting household disinfectants including bleach into their bodies because they believe such practices can ward off coronavirus — “preventive” measures are ineffective and dangerous. The study, posted by the CDC on Friday, explored how much its 502 participants...
5 Western Pa. UPMC hospitals given covid-19 drug
Five Pittsburgh-area UPMC hospitals have received shipments of the antiviral medication remdesivir to treat hospital patients with covid-19, the Pennsylvania Health Department said. UMPC Presbyterian, Mercy, Shadyside and St. Margaret, all in Pittsburgh; and Passavant in McCandless were among the 73 hospitals in the state to receive a total of...
Lancet study on safety of malaria drugs for coronavirus retracted
Several authors of a large study that raised safety concerns about malaria drugs for coronavirus patients have retracted the report, saying independent reviewers were not able to verify information that’s been widely questioned by other scientists. The retraction Thursday in the journal Lancet involved a May 22 report on hydroxychloroquine...
Epidemic of wipes and masks plagues sewers, storm drains
PHILADELPHIA — Mayor Jim Kenney kicked off a recent briefing on Philadelphia’s coronavirus response with an unusual request for residents: Be careful what you flush. Between mid-March, when the city’s stay-at-home order was issued, and the end of April, most of the 19 sewer and storm water pumping stations in...
Doctors say covid-19 at UPMC is declining in virulence, infection levels
Covid-19 is declining in both virulence and infection levels among patients at the state’s largest health care system, UPMC officials said Thursday. Dr. Donald Yealy, who heads emergency medicine at the system that has hospitals across the state, said both the ratio of patients testing positive for the virus and...
Study: No evidence hydroxychloroquine prevents healthy from getting covid-19Video
A clinical study evaluating whether hydroxychloroquine can prevent covid-19 infections in people at risk of getting the virus found that it isn’t more effective than a placebo, according to a report published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. The conclusion of the study, which was carried out in...
