A new bill introduced in the California state Senate aims to lay the groundwork for a state universal health care system, proposing an incremental approach that departs from recent sweeping, and unsuccessful, efforts to reshape how Californians receive care.

Under the measure by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), California would begin...Read more

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

The COVID-19 pandemic intensified the opioid epidemic, according to our new research, which finds that opioid overdoses increased in Pennsylvania in 2020 compared with 2018 and 2019.

Yet general trends obscure critical local variations. Specifically, 19 ...Read more

Many people are flocking to the Gulf Coast for spring break. However, toxic red tide algal blooms have put beachgoers and residents on alert.

In the Gulf of Mexico, red tide is caused by a microscopic organism called Karenia brevis. The organism was detected in 172 samples along Florida's Gulf Coast last week, according to Florida officials.

...Read more

The costs of Alzheimer’s disease – human and financial – are rising sharply in California and nationally, and census projections for America’s rapidly aging population suggest the scope of the disease soon might rival what America saw during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In fact, new data from the Alzheimer’s Association’s ...Read more

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Monday that cases of Candida auris, or C. auris — a potentially deadly and drug-resistant fungal infection — are on the rise at U.S. health-care facilities.

New CDC data published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine showed that the number of infections has grown since it was ...Read more

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey on Monday said his office plans to file a set of emergency rules aimed at restricting how doctors provide gender-affirming care to minors.

The rules include strict psychological therapy requirements for doctors providing care as well as banning care until all of a patient’s other...Read more

MIAMI -- Mike Hugo, a 37-year-old Wellington, Florida, resident, has two young daughters, a wife, and a rare form of brain cancer.

Hugo spends his days in South Florida writing milestone birthday cards to his daughters, recording a song for their weddings, and benefiting from advancements in medical technology that give him a better quality of ...Read more

You've probably heard that when your baby is around 6 to 9 months old, it's time to begin moving away from bottle feeding. But like many parents, you may feel a little apprehensive about this next step in your child's growth and development.

If your little one pouts, shouts or bursts into tears when you offer them a "big kid cup," take a deep ...Read more

Novo Nordisk A/S replenished supplies of Ozempic, a treatment for diabetes, after social media-driven enthusiasm over the drug’s use for weight loss led to six months of shortages.

Two common doses of Ozempic are now available again, according to an update posted on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s drug shortage database that Novo ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento and Solano counties are in a standoff with the state over mental health coverage for a portion of Medicaid patients in those counties — a dispute that threatens to disrupt care for nearly 50,000 low-income residents receiving treatment for severe mental illness.

The Department of Health Care Services, which ...Read more

CHICAGO -- When traditional treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation fail, lung cancer can be a death sentence for many patients.

That, however, may be changing, with Northwestern Medicine leading the way.

Northwestern plans to begin regularly performing double lung transplants on patients with terminal lung cancer, after successfully ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- When U.S. Sen. John Fetterman checked into a hospital for clinical depression last month, critics questioned whether he would be able to serve his six-year term.

Mental illness is often portrayed as an inescapable condition.

Everyone's experience is different, and people who've had an episode of mental illness are at greater ...Read more

FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Kentucky General Assembly voted Thursday to ban gender-affirming care for transgender kids as a part of an omnibus anti-LGBTQ bill, following a last-minute committee substitute.

The Senate vote was 30 to 7, with one Republican voting against it and one Democrat voting for Senate Bill 150. The bill now goes to Gov. Andy ...Read more

FRANKFORT, Ky. — In a last-minute switch Thursday, Republicans revived an omnibus anti-LGBTQ bill, which includes a ban on gender-affirming health care for Kentucky’s transgender youth.

Less than a day after Senate Republicans voted to dramatically scale back a bill that many in the party said went too far because it left trans kids with no...Read more

ATLANTA — The Georgia House on Thursday approved a bill that would prevent medical professionals from giving transgender children certain hormones or surgical treatment.

Senate Bill 140 passed 96-75 on a party-line vote, with Republicans supporting the measure. Since the bill was amended in a House committee earlier this week, SB 140 will go ...Read more

DENVER — When Lauren Miller found out she was pregnant at the end of July, she wrote a journal entry about how she hoped her pregnancy would be as uncomplicated as her last, especially because of the fall of Roe v. Wade.

“If it’s not, I want to be able to share what I’m going through,” the Dallas woman wrote. “I hate the ‘don’t ...Read more

President Joe Biden’s 2024 proposed budget includes plans to shore up the finances of Medicare, the federal health insurance program that covers Americans who are 65 and up and some younger people with disabilities.

His administration aims to increase from 3.8% to 5% an existing Medicare tax that’s collected on the labor and ...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I have had allergies since childhood, suffering during both the spring and fall seasons. This past month, however, I am experiencing more congestion and mucus, and I even have some facial pain. I'm beginning to wonder if my symptoms are really from allergies or if they may be caused by a sinus infection instead. How can I tell ...Read more

People with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection are at in increased risk for liver cancer, cirrhosis and are 70% to 85% more likely to die prematurely than the general population, according to the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. With an estimated 580,000 to 2.4 million people in the U.S. infected with HBV, the CDC...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I have a loved one who was referred for hospice care. I'm not sure what this means. Can you share more about what hospice care is and how it may help my family member?

ANSWER: Hospice care might be an option for people who are nearing the end of life due to a terminal illness and have exhausted all other treatment options.

...Read more