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A former Obama administration official with extensive experience in federal and state health services could be the next leader of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Former North Carolina Health Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen is the likely pick, according to sources with knowledge of the plan, the

Americans will continue to be able to get free preventive health care services -- at least for now.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans temporarily blocked a lower court decision on Monday, pausing a ruling that challenged an Affordable Care Act provision that all health plans cover certain care, the New York Times reported.

The earlier ruling i...

The U.S. National Institutes of Health could get a new leader in Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, the Boston cancer surgeon who's led the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) since last fall.

On Monday President Joe Biden formally nominated Bertagnolli to the post, which has be...

Artificial intelligence (AI) research and development should stop until its use and technology are properly regulated, an international group of doctors and public health experts said.

Certain types of AI pose an “existential threat to humanity,” the experts wrote in the May 9 issue of the journal

  • Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
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  • May 10, 2023
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  • The U.S. federal government has committed $5 million to study three existing and planned safe drug injection sites to see if they help prevent overdoses and whether they may offer savings in the health and criminal justice systems.

    At these overdose prevention centers (OPCs), people can use heroin or other illegal drugs under supervision so they can potentially be revived if they overdose...

    In U.S. states that provide financial assistance for low-income families, the difference is evident in children's brains, researchers report.

    Their study found disparities in brain structure between children from high-income households compared to low-income households. However, the disparity was more than a third lower in states offering greater cash assistance to low-income families, c...

    When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a woman's constitutional right to abortion in June, internet searches for information related to abortion and contraception surged.

    Searches for abortion-related terms increased much more in U.S. states where access to reproductive health care faced imminent restrictions, according to a new study.

    Lead researcher

  • Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
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  • May 3, 2023
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  • The U.S. National Institutes of Health could get a new leader in Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, the Boston cancer surgeon who has led the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) since last fall.

    The White House plans to nominate Bertagnolli to the post,...

    Could taxing soda cut down on the consumption of sugary drinks?

    That's exactly what happened when a local “soda tax” was launched in Oakland, Calif., according to researchers from the University of California, San Francisco.

    Purchases of sugar-sweetened beverages dropped nearly 27% between July 2017 and December 2019, after the one-cent-per-ounce tax began.

    “These result...

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wants to put the pedal to the metal in America's transition to clean electric vehicles.

    The EPA today announced proposed federal emissions standards aimed at accelerating the move to electric cars and trucks.

    Once adopted, the standards are expected to create a massive improvement in air pollution across the nation, particularly in smog-choke...

    A proposed bill in Florida would prevent children from learning about menstruation in elementary school, even though some girls get their first periods in those years.

    The bill would also ban other sex education topics through the fifth grade.

    Sponsored by Republican Florida state Rep. Stan McClain, the bill advanced out of the House Education Quality Subcommittee last week, CBS...

    Since it began in 2004, a global effort led by the United States to combat HIV has dramatically increased the number of people it helps, a new government report shows.

    In its report, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that the number of people receiving lifesaving HIV treatment through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has increased 300 tim...

    U.S. water utilities will be required to remove certain “forever chemicals” from drinking water as the Biden administration sets first-ever limits on perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl compounds, better known as known as PFAS.

    Nearly all Americans have PFAS in their bloodstream. The toxic chemicals are found in an enormous range of goods from dental floss to waterproof clothing. The c...

    The United States is one of the few developed nations without federal paid sick leave protection, owing at least in part to concerns about potential harms to business, according to a new study.

    Yet, researchers studying the issue found that access to paid sick leave could have benefits for businesses.

    Among them: fewer occupational injuries, less spread of contagious disease, fewer ...

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's heavily criticized tobacco program promised changes on Friday, including a five-year strategic plan to better outline priorities.

    "As we enter this era of declining use of combustible tobacco and continued innovation in the e-cigarette industry, the societal concerns are not subtle," FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf said in an agency news release...

    Changes in U.S. abortion laws have prompted confusion among women about medication abortion and emergency contraception, or the “morning-after” pill.

    A new poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) underscores this lack of awareness about what's legal or not from state to state, including whether a full abortion ban is in place or abortions are allowed.

    Pollsters surveyed a na...

    To fight an urgent opioid overdose crisis, a Canadian province took an unusual step on Tuesday.

    British Columbia decriminalized small amounts of several hard drugs.

    This includes up to 2.5 grams of cocaine, heroin and fentanyl, the province's Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions said in a statement

    Stung by recent food safety scandals -- most notably last year's infant formula shortage, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday that it is creating a new unit devoted to food safety.

    The newly dubbed Human Foods Program will wield wide-ranging powers.

    "We're proposing the creation of a unified, newly envisioned organization, called the Human Foods Program, that el...

    A U.S. Food and Drug Administration official who has led the agency's food policy efforts since 2018 announced his resignation on Wednesday.

    Frank Yiannas was also among the top officials leading the agency response to last year's infant formula shortage.

    "Today, I informed [FDA] Commissioner ...

    When it comes to tobacco control, some states do a far better job than others of preventing and reducing smoking.

    A new report from the American Lung Association (ALA) notes that California, Maine, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., are doing the best job of putting proven tobacco control policies in place.

    Conversely, those who have the most need to enact policies are Alabama, Mi...

    The pandemic brought the utility of testing wastewater to gauge viral spread to the fore.

    Now, experts at the independent National Academies of Sciences (NAS) have issued a report outlining a roadmap for the broader surveillance of Americans' wastewater.

    The report "reviews the usefulness of comm...

    The number of Americans who had trouble paying their medical bills dropped precipitously between 2019 and 2021, and funds from the American Rescue Plan and other federal pandemic relief programs may have been a reason why.

    Overall, 10.8% of Americans responding to a federal survey in 2021 said they had had problems covering medical bills that year, down from 14% in 2019, according to rese...

    Gas stoves could face new emissions standards or even be banned because of their link to indoor air pollutants and childhood asthma, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

    The federal agency will open public comment on gas cooking stoves and their hazards sometime this winter, Bloomberg News reported.

    “This is a hidden hazard,” agency commissio...

    Medicare Advantage ads that are confusing or misleading could be banned under a new rule that was proposed Wednesday by the Biden administration to protect seniors.

    Nearly half of all seniors or people with disabilities who are enrolled in the Medicare program through the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have Medicare Advantage plans.

    “CMS released a proposed...

    The state of California is suing several companies for their role in manufacturing "forever chemicals."

    The lawsuit filed Thursday also claims that the companies, including 3M and DuPont, covered up the harm their products, commonly known as PFAS, were causing to the...

    U.S. voters spoke up for abortion rights Tuesday through ballot measures in four states in what was seen as a win for abortion rights supporters.

    In Michigan, California and Vermont, voters approved measures that would amend their state constitutions to protect abortion, about four months after the U.S. Supreme Court removed the constitutional right to the procedure, the New York Time...

    Transgender minors in Florida are now one step closer to not being able to get medical care to affirm their gender.

    In a heated hearing on Friday, the Florida Board of Medicine voted to begin drafting a rule banning puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries for trans youths younger than 18.

    This was the next step in a movement that began in April when Gov. Ron DeSantis began e...

    Child tax credits had a huge impact in U.S. households that struggle to afford food.

    And after those credits ended, many...

    The federal government is pumping millions more dollars into an effort to expand the United States' network of community mental health centers.

    Up to 15 states now can apply for $1 million grants to help plan new

  • Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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  • October 18, 2022
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  • Do the majority of Americans want government to make sure the products they buy are free of harmful chemicals?

    Yes, a new survey shows, and they are even willing to pay more to get that assurance of safety.

    “At a time when most issues are politically polarized, the issue of keeping people ...

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has taken a major step to curb the largest remaining source of airborne lead pollution.

    The agency has proposed a so-called endangerment finding that aircraft that use leaded fuel cause or contribute to

  • By Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
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  • October 7, 2022
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  • The U.S. government will invest $266 million to shore up the community and public health workforce using American Rescue Plan funding.

    About $225.5 million will go to 83 recipients to support training and apprenticeship for 13,000 new community health workers, CNN reported before Friday's announcement...

    To help consumers ascertain the nutritional value of foods more easily, the Biden administration said Tuesday it will propose putting nutrition labels on the front of packaging instead of on the back.

    The proposal will be paired with an update on criteria for wha...

    The White House on Tuesday released a national plan to end hunger by 2030, an ambitious goal that would be accomplished largely by expanding monthly food benefits for poor Americans.

    The plan would also aim to encourage healthy eating and physical activity so few...

    Consumers should immediately stop using HECOPRO digital display carbon monoxide (CO) detectors because they can fail to warn about the presence of the dangerous gas, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said.

    The CPSC issued the warning Thursday after detectors sold on Amazon.com failed tests with a CO concentration of 400 ppm, in violation of safety standards.

    At sus...

    New federal safety standards announced Wednesday aim to keep kids and teens safe from serious or life-threatening injuries from accidental swallowing of high-powered magnets.

    The new standards require that certain products with loose or separable magnets contain only those that are weak or too large to swallow.

    The aim is to reduce injuries that can occur when swallowed magnets att...

    New research suggests that good intentions may not always be enough when it comes to public health.

    According to the study of the consequences of Philadelphia's 2017 tax on sugar-sweete...

    The days of getting free COVID-19 tests by mail are drawing to a close.

    The Biden administration plans to stop sending test kits to Americans on Sept. 2 in order to reserve remaining tests for a fall surge. Lack of funding from Congress is the reason for the change, NBC News reported, citing an unnamed senior administration official.

    "If Congress provides funding, we will e...

    This year's hurricane season has been quiet so far, but if and when it cranks up many American cities won't be prepared to execute mass evacuations, a new study finds.

    After Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans in 2005, the country bore witness to the pitfalls of not having an effective evacuation plan. Since then on...

    To help parents who use government nutrition benefits cope with an ongoing shortage of baby formula, U.S. federal officials will extend a program giving them more choice at the grocery store.

    Families who buy formula through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women Infants and Children (WIC) will be able to buy substitutes for their regular formula through Dec. 31 -- or for 60...

    After testing negative for COVID-19 and leaving isolation last Sunday, First Lady Jill Biden again tested positive for the virus on Wednesday.

    "After testing negative on Tuesday, just now, the First Lady has tested positive for COVID-19 by antigen testing," the First Lady's Deputy Communications Director Kelsey Donohue said in a statement. "This represents a “rebound” positivity."

    ...

    Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has advised seven presidents and spent more than five decades at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, will step down in December to "pursue the next chapter" of his career, he announced Monday.

    Fauci, 81, currently serves as the director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIA...

    After testing positive for COVID-19 last week, First Lady Jill Biden left isolation on Sunday following two negative test results.

    She had been isolating on Kiawah Island, S.C., where she had tested positive while vacationing there with her husband, President Joe Biden, and their family, the Associated Press reported. He

  • By Ernie Mundell and Robin Foster HealthDay Reporters
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  • August 22, 2022
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  • Countries that are closer to achieving universal health coverage saw smaller declines in routine childhood vaccinations during the pandemic, a new study reveals.

    The World Health Organization describes universal health coverage as "all individuals and communities receive the health services...

    The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention failed to respond quickly enough during the COVID-19 pandemic and needs an major overhaul, Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Wednesday.

    With her rebuke, she sketched out a plan to prioritize action on public health needs, The N...

    First Lady Jill Biden has COVID-19 and is experiencing "mild symptoms," according to her staff.

    "After testing negative for COVID-19 on Monday during her regular testing cadence, the First Lady began to develop cold-like symptoms late in the evening," Biden's communications director Eliz...

    On Monday Scotland became the world's first country to help its residents with what activists supporting the move call "period poverty."

    The country now offers free period products for anyone who needs them, a decision first made in November 2020 by unanimous approval in Scottish Parliament, according to CBS News.

    Making these products available is "fundamental to equality ...

    The Inflation Reduction Act is expected to bring out-of-pocket drug costs down for many U.S. seniors, but most of its benefits aren't immediate.

    Under the law, Medicare will now be allowed to negotiate the cost of some drugs. That should eventually bring down out-of-pocket costs for seniors with Medicare Part D prescription drug plans, according to John Clark, a clinical associate profess...

    What if a rare viral illness with the potential to cause excruciating pain was in fact treatable, but the only drug for that use was nearly impossible to get, despite being in plentiful supply?

    That is precisely the dilemma now confronting thousands of monkeypox patients across the United States.

    "I was ...

    President Joe Biden was poised to sign a new executive order on Wednesday that would make it easier for women to travel to another state to get an abortion.

    This ...