Arizona saw an uptick in drug overdose deaths in the 12-month period from December 2020 to December 2021. The state saw a 4.39% increase in drug overdose deaths in that span; the increase was below the 15% national increase, according to a new provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The state […]
As the nation largely abandons mask mandates, physical distancing, and other covid-19 prevention strategies, elected officials and health departments alike are now championing antiviral pills. But the federal government isn’t saying how many people have received these potentially lifesaving drugs or whether they’re being distributed equitably. Pfizer’s Paxlovid pill, along with Merck’s molnupiravir, are aimed […]
As the Supreme Court appears poised to return abortion regulation to the states, recent experience in Texas illustrates that medical care for miscarriages and dangerous ectopic pregnancies would also be threatened if restrictions become more widespread. One Texas law passed last year lists several medications as abortion-inducing drugs and largely bars their use for abortion after the […]
Every 4 seconds, someone in the world dies from the morbidities caused by smoking. However, it is a little-known fact that it’s the smoke that causes disease and death, not nicotine. For those who can’t or won’t quit smoking, tobacco harm reduction products offer a safer alternative to combustible tobacco. Unfortunately, too many people mistakenly […]
The Iowa Department of Public Health would like Iowans to complete a survey by May 20 to support its application for federal fiscal year 2023 Title V grant funding. Department staff will use the feedback from the survey both to apply for the funding and plan activities, the introduction to the survey said. Title V grants from […]
It’s an eye-catching statistic: 58% of the whole population and 75% of kids in the U.S. had been infected by the coronavirus by the end of February 2022. That’s a pretty big jump from the official case count that hovered around a quarter of Americans having been diagnosed with COVID-19. A report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention […]
With time running out in the 2022 legislative session, Georgia lawmakers took up a bill to regulate raw milk. An amendment suddenly got tacked onto the House version of the bill, although the new wording had nothing to do with dairy. The language called for legalizing the use of strips that test drugs for fentanyl, a […]
The COVID pandemic has highlighted several interesting features of modern medical practice – most recently the “nocebo” response, which may account for a significant number of side effects people experience following vaccination. Nocebo responses (from Latin noci: to harm) are the opposite of the better known placebo. While the latter describes improvements in symptoms following inert medication, the […]
Ahead of the upcoming election, Labor has promised a rigorous review of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), focused on spending and administration, should it win office. But workforce shortages present a danger to participants now. To ensure the stated ambitions of a market-based system in which NDIS participants can choose their own supports, Labor’s proposed review must focus […]
New Hampshire could lose billions of dollars and federal funding if it enacted a bill to restrict COVID-19 vaccine requirements, according to health care officials. A proposal being considered by the state Legislature would create a new “moral” or “conscience” exemption to COVID-19 vaccine mandates and require all public and private employers who receive public […]
Public hospital emergency departments in every state are overwhelmed, with ambulance ramping the most visible manifestation. Emergency department performance is deteriorating with fewer people being seen in a timely manner. Labor, in its first major health election campaign announcement, has signalled it recognises the problem, and is offering an innovative solution — at least 50 new urgent […]
The Biden administration announced plans on April 26, 2022, to increase the availability of the COVID-19 drug Paxlovid, vowing to get more of the treatment pills into the hands of Americans. An oral antiviral, Paxlovid has proved successful at reducing the chances of hospitalization among COVID-19 sufferers, but has suffered from a slow rollout to pharmacies across the U.S. Patrick Jackson, […]
