Latest Health News

Louisiana becomes first state to allow surgical castration as punishment for child molesters

Jun. 21, 2024 16:15 PM EDT

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana has become the first state where judges can order offenders guilty of certain sex crimes against children to undergo surgical castration under a bill signed into law by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry on Tuesday. While the punishment of surgical...

North Carolina lawmakers appeal judge's decision blocking abortion-pill restrictions

Jun. 21, 2024 15:57 PM EDT

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Republican legislative leaders are appealing portions of a federal judge's order this month that blocked several state laws that restrict how abortion pills can be dispensed, including the requirement that only physicians can provide the drugs to patients. ...

Obesity drug used in Mounjaro and Zepbound may help treat dangerous sleep apnea

Jun. 21, 2024 15:56 PM EDT

A popular obesity drug may help treat a dangerous disorder in which people struggle to breathe while they sleep, a new study finds. Tirzepatide, the medication in the weight-loss drug Zepbound and also the diabetes treatment Mounjaro, appeared to reduce the severity of sleep apnea...

Texas medical panel issues new guidelines for doctors but no specific exceptions for abortion ban

Jun. 21, 2024 15:33 PM EDT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas medical panel on Friday approved guidance for doctors working under one of the nation's most restrictive abortion bans but refused to list specific exceptions to the law, which doctors have complained is dangerously unclear. The decision by the Texas...

Federal appeals court says some employers can exclude HIV prep from insurance coverage

Jun. 21, 2024 15:24 PM EDT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Employers who challenged some federal health insurance requirements cannot be forced to provide no-cost coverage for certain types of preventive care, including HIV prep and some kinds of cancer screenings, a federal appeals court in New Orleans ruled Friday. The...

Iowa trucker whose body was found in field died of hypothermia after taking meth, autopsy finds

Jun. 21, 2024 14:53 PM EDT

SAC CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa truck driver who vanished last fall and whose body was found in a farm field this spring died of hypothermia related to acute methamphetamine intoxication, an autopsy found. State medical examiner Dr. Kelly Kruse ruled that 53-year-old David...

FDA OKs first menthol e-cigarettes, citing potential to help adult smokers

Jun. 21, 2024 14:49 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration on Friday authorized the first menthol-flavored electronic cigarettes for adult smokers, acknowledging that vaping flavors can reduce the harms of traditional tobacco smoking. The FDA said it authorized four menthol e-cigarettes...

North Carolina governor vetoes masks bill largely because of provision about campaign finance

Jun. 21, 2024 14:36 PM EDT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Despite changes made to North Carolina's masking bill to quell concerns over the removal of a pandemic-era health exemption, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper said he vetoed the legislation on Friday mostly for a different reason: a campaign finance provision tacked on to the end...

Family wants DNA testing on strand of hair that could hold key to care home resident’s death

Jun. 21, 2024 14:14 PM EDT

A single black hair could help bring clarity to the mysterious death of a 50-year-old Philadelphia woman who choked on a large disinfectant wipe at a care home for people with development difficulties. Staff found Cheryl Yewdall face down on the floor, lips blue and in a pool of...

How does heat kill? It confuses your brain. It shuts down your organs. It overworks your heart.

Jun. 21, 2024 13:45 PM EDT

As temperatures and humidity soar outside, what's happening inside the human body can become a life-or-death battle decided by just a few degrees. The critical danger point outdoors for illness and death from relentless heat is several degrees lower than experts once thought, say...