Latest Health News

Famine is said to be 'imminent' in northern Gaza as Israel raids the main hospital again

Mar. 18, 2024 20:40 PM EDT

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Famine is "imminent” in northern Gaza, where 70% of people are experiencing catastrophic hunger, according to a report Monday that warned escalation of the war could push half of Gaza's total population to the brink of starvation. The report, by the...

Appeals panel asks West Virginia court whether opioids distribution can cause a public nuisance

Mar. 18, 2024 20:11 PM EDT

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A federal appeals court asked West Virginia’s highest court Monday whether opioid distributions can cause a public nuisance as it reviews a landmark lawsuit against three major U.S. drug distributors accused of causing a health crisis in one of the state's counties. ...

Idaho considers a ban on using public funds or facilities for gender-affirming care

Mar. 18, 2024 19:13 PM EDT

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho lawmakers are expected to vote this week on a bill that would ban the use of any public funds for gender-affirming care, including for state employees using work health insurance and for adults covered by Medicaid. The legislation already passed the House...

EPA bans asbestos, a deadly carcinogen still in use decades after a partial ban was enacted

Mar. 18, 2024 18:56 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday announced a comprehensive ban on asbestos, a carcinogen that kills tens of thousands of Americans every year but is still used in some chlorine bleach, brake pads and other products. The final rule marks a major...

Boxing great Roberto Durán receives pacemaker after heart issues

Mar. 18, 2024 18:11 PM EDT

PANAMA CITY, Panama (AP) — Boxing great Roberto Durán received a pacemaker on Monday after he was hospitalized on the weekend, his family said. “The Durán family is pleased to inform that thanks to God the surgery in our champion, a pacemaker implant, was totally successful,”...

UnitedHealth says it has made progress on recovering from a massive cyberattack

Mar. 18, 2024 17:11 PM EDT

UnitedHealth is testing the last major system it must restore from last month’s Change Healthcare cyberattack, but it has no date yet for finishing the recovery. The health care giant said Monday that it is testing software for submitting medical claims. It already has largely...

Gambia lawmakers refer the debate on female genital cutting to more committee discussions

Mar. 18, 2024 17:06 PM EDT

SERREKUNDA, Gambia (AP) — An attempt to repeal a 2015 ban on female genital cutting in Gambia was sent for further committee discussions by lawmakers on Monday. Gambian activists fear the passage of the bill would overturn years of work to better protect girls and women. The...

Biden signs executive order on advancing study of women's health while chiding 'backward' GOP ideas

Mar. 18, 2024 15:36 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden signed an executive order Monday aimed at advancing the study of women's health by strengthening data collection and providing better funding opportunities for biomedical research while chiding Republicans for having “no clue about the power of women" but...

North Carolina lands syringe-manufacturing plant that will employ 400

Mar. 18, 2024 14:11 PM EDT

WILSON, N.C. (AP) — A company that makes containers and injections for vaccines and other drugs will build a new manufacturing plant in eastern North Carolina, creating 400 jobs by the end of the decade, officials announced on Monday. A U.S.-based subsidiary of German firm SCHOTT...

New Hampshire charges 1st person in state with murder in the death of a fetus

Mar. 18, 2024 13:57 PM EDT

OSSIPEE, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire man appeared in court Monday on charges that he killed a pregnant woman and her unborn child by means of multiple blunt force injuries, the first time the state has charged someone with murder in the death of a fetus. William Kelly, 28,...