In a heartbeat: Sound advice on hearing protection
With boisterous summer celebrations approaching, signs of hearing damage could go unheard. The World Health Organization predicts that by 2050 nearly 2.5 billion people worldwide will suffer from some level of hearing loss — with upwards of 700 million cases necessitating rehabilitation. Currently, around 95.1 million children aged 5-19 live...
Renal denervation offers hope patients with high blood pressure
Gary Tranelli walked away from a minor stroke in late 2024 physically unscathed but mentally rattled. If he didn’t get his blood pressure under control, his chances of another stroke were high, and the next one might not be as forgiving. His systolic blood pressure — the first number that...
Allegheny County extends public comment period for proposed paid parental leave
The Allegheny County Health Department announced Friday that it will extend the public comment period for a proposal that would require employers of all sizes to provide 18 weeks of paid parental leave to employees. The Board of Health’s first public hearing on the issue June 2 drew dozens of...
Pa. Senate votes down proposal to create independent cannabis regulatory board
The Pennsylvania Senate shot down a bill Wednesday to create a board to oversee the state’s medical marijuana program and regulate hemp-derived products like vapes and gummies that have become ubiquitous at gas stations, convenience stores and smoke shops. The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Dan Laughlin, R-Erie, failed in...
Some Pittsburgh universities propose credit cut to tackle nursing shortage
Some Pittsburgh-area universities are encouraging the state to consider lowering the number of credits required for select bachelor’s degree programs as a solution to healthcare workforce shortages. The proposal was discussed Thursday during a Senate Labor and Industry Committee roundtable at Carlow University, where university presidents, hospital leaders and lawmakers...
State Health Department to report schools’ vaccination rates
The Pennsylvania Department of Health will soon disclose online vaccination rates at public and private schools, in response to increasing rates of measles, whooping cough and other diseases across the state. A letter sent Wednesday, addressed to school leaders and nurses, and signed by state Health Secretary Debra Bogen and...
FDA’s e-cigarette authorization: Fruity vapes not significantly better than tobacco ones
WASHINGTON — Fruit-flavored e-cigarettes recently authorized by the Food and Drug Administration were not significantly better at helping smokers quit than tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes, according to a new memo that’s likely to stir more questions about the agency’s decision. The FDA last month gave its first OK to fruit-flavored vapes —...
Allegheny General Hospital says Trump administration warning over pricing transparency stemmed from clerical error
The only Pittsburgh-area hospital to land on a Trump administration list of facilities warned for failing to publicly post pricing information got there as a result of what it called a clerical error. Allegheny General Hospital on the North Side received a warning notice in April, a spokesman said Thursday,...
Too sick to work, but can they prove it? New Medicaid rule worries patients
NEW YORK — On hot afternoons, DeAnna Brandon’s three dogs zag around while she splashes in a backyard kiddie pool with her grandkids. These are the moments the 48-year-old blood cancer survivor cherishes — and wonders if she’ll get to have in the years to come. Brandon, who lives in...
UPMC to lay off 200 mostly non-medical employees
UPMC is laying off 200 mostly nonclinical employees, hospital officials confirmed Tuesday. A spokesperson for the $34 billion health system — the largest private employer in Pennsylvania with 100,000 workers — noted the layoffs are limited in scope. UPMC said the move was part of a regular internal reassessment to...
Unexpected infant deaths nearly triple in Allegheny County since 2020
In response to a rising number of infant deaths, the Allegheny County Health Department and nonprofit Cribs for Kids are urging greater awareness and action. At the Cribs for Kids warehouse in Hazelwood on Tuesday, Dr. Iulia Vann, director of the health department, warned parents that unexpected infant deaths have...
FDA OKs 1st new sunscreen ingredient in more than 25 years
WASHINGTON — Federal health regulators on Tuesday signed off on the first new sunscreen ingredient for the U.S. market in more than 25 years, giving Americans access to a skin-protecting chemical long used in Europe and other parts of the world. The Food and Drug Administration says the ingredient, bemotrizinol,...
Trump administration warns more than 500 hospitals to provide more price information or face fines
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has warned more than 500 hospitals that they are failing to provide the public with basic pricing information — arguing that the lack of disclosure is keeping healthcare costs higher than they should be. The Associated Press obtained exclusively the list of hospitals that since...
A government-commissioned study found drinking risks. U.S. guidelines didn’t feature its findings
A study commissioned by President Joe Biden’s administration to investigate alcohol-related health harms was released independently on Tuesday, after President Donald Trump’s administration decided not to feature the researchers’ findings in new dietary guidelines as it faced pushback from the alcohol industry and a congressional committee. The findings of the...
Congo’s Ebola outbreak rises to over 100 deaths out of 550 cases as conflict slows response
BUNIA, Congo — More than 100 people have died from Ebola less than a month after authorities declared an outbreak of the disease in eastern Congo, a grim toll as officials intensify efforts to slow the disease discovered weeks late. Attacks on health workers from angry residents, skepticism among some...
West Nile virus confirmed in Allegheny County mosquitoes
Mosquitoes found in Point Breeze tested positive for the West Nile Virus, which can cause flu-like symptoms after mosquito bites. The Allegheny County Health Department said Monday that mosquitoes collected on May 27 were tested and flagged as positive for West Nile by the county’s Vector Control Program. Allegheny County’s...
Allegheny County’s Sexual Health Clinic moves Downtown
The Allegheny County Health Department has relocated its Sexual Health Clinic to Downtown Pittsburgh, consolidating services in one location to make it easier for patients to access sexual health care, immunizations, pulmonary services and public health pharmacy resources. The department announced the move Monday, saying the new site provides a...
As Pennsylvania cracks down on AI, multiple chatbots continue to pose as doctors
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — Chatbots on five different websites claimed to be licensed to practice medicine in the commonwealth when prompted...
What to know about the New World screwworm fly and its reappearance in the U.S.
The New World screwworm fly is threatening the $113 billion U.S. cattle industry for the first time in more than half a century, as officials race to eradicate a flesh-eating parasite not seen in Texas since 1966. Two new cases were found in a calf and a dog hundreds of...
2 more Texas screwworm infections found in animals far apart, USDA says
KERRVILLE, Texas — Two more cases of the New World screwworm have been confirmed in Texas, demonstrating the difficulty of stopping the spread of a pest that could potentially devastate the nation’s cattle industry, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday. The screwworm is actually a fly, which produces a...
PennWest professor studies gaming disorders and how they can lead to behavioral issues
Stephanie Diez first learned of gaming disorders as a social worker years ago. It was 2010, and the first iPhones were becoming more popular. She began to see a connection between clients recovering from substance abuse later addicted to gaming and technology. “One of the biggest reasons gaming can be...
Health group warns ‘best’ air quality in over 25 years still fails Allegheny County residents
Longtime Mon Valley resident Qiyam Ansari suffered a severe asthma attack at age 16 that led to a collapsed lung and a weeklong medically induced coma. He attributes the near-death episode to poor air quality in Allegheny County. Now preparing to become a father, Ansari, 29, who is the executive...
Independence Westmoreland, Butler Memorial mark milestone in aortic valve replacements
Within days of a transcatheter aortic valve replacement procedure at Independence Health Westmoreland Hospital, Bob Weaver was out mowing his lawn. The improvement in his quality of life has been amazing, Weaver said. The Hempfield man was experiencing shortness of breath prior to the procedure on May 7. “I don’t...
In a heartbeat: Why prostate cancer screening isn’t what you thought it was
For aging men, worrying about prostate health can start to feel like a real … well, you know. But as Dr. Leonard Appleman of Fox Chapel — the director of genitourinary cancer disease at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center who carries 25 years of field experience— explains, there are plenty of...
What Pittsburgh doctors want parents to know about peanut allergies
In the most severe cases of peanut allergy, the faintest trace of a peanut can alter the course of someone’s life. But the number of those diagnosed with the leading cause of fatal or near-fatal anaphylaxis in the U.S. has dropped by 43% since 2017, thanks to treatment advances and...
