After grave missteps in the covid pandemic, the World Health Organization revisited the science and now confirms that many respiratory viruses are inhaled as airborne particles. The new framework implies that stopping transmission relies on costly measures like ventilation and masking.
Oregon is giving Medicaid patients air conditioners and other equipment to help them cope with soaring heat, smoky skies, and other dangers of climate change. Oregon health officials hope to show other states and the federal government that they can save lives and money.
Portland-based Oregon Health & Science University documented the world’s first known case of brain disease from fentanyl inhalation.
People across the nation claim cancer-causing emissions from local sterilizing plants are making them sick. It’s an example of environmental racism, say residents of one predominantly Black area in southwest Memphis, Tennessee, where life expectancy is much shorter than county and state averages.
Strange symptoms in syphilis cases are appearing sooner and in higher incidence rates than normal, CNN reported April 26.
Florida has served as a haven for Southern pregnant women with little or no access to abortions. But the Florida Supreme Court upheld a six-week abortion restriction that begins in May — so now women across much of the South seeking abortions will have to look farther afield.
There have been at least nine mpox cases reported in Cuyahoga County — which encompasses Cleveland and surrounding suburbs — since February, health officials said April 25.
For the second time in as many months, the Supreme Court heard arguments in an abortion case. This time, the justices are being asked to decide whether a federal law that requires emergency care in hospitals can trump Idaho’s near-total abortion ban. Meanwhile, the federal government, for the first time, will require minimum staffing standards for nursing homes. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Tami Luhby of CNN, and Joanne Kenen of Johns Hopkins University and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too.
On April 23, the FDA said remnants of the bird flu virus have been detected in samples of pasteurized milk in the U.S. The agency said the finding does not change its assessment that the commercial milk supply is safe.
The staffing regulation was disparaged by the industry as unattainable. Patient advocates say it doesn’t go far enough. Labor unions welcomed the requirement.
