As much as half of the fentanyl sold on Philly’s streets contains an industrial chemical used in plastics manufacturing. That’s according to our November 2024 testing of fentanyl samples collected in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood, regarded as the largest open-air drug market on the East Coast.

What’s more, the amount,...Read more

An outbreak of tuberculosis, or TB – a lung disease that is often accompanied by a hacking cough – began in January 2024 in Kansas City, Kansas, and two nearby counties and continues as of early March 2025. To date, 147 people have been reportedly diagnosed with TB in the outbreak, with 67 becoming ill. The remaining 80 people diagnosed ...Read more

The Trump administration’s sudden firing of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention employees gutted training programs across the nation whose participants bolstered the workforce of state and local public health departments that for decades have been starved of resources.

The programs are designed to cultivate a new generation of public ...Read more

A growing number of states have made it easier for doctors who trained in other countries to get medical licenses, a shift supporters say could ease physician shortages in rural areas.

The changes involve residency programs — the supervised, hands-on training experience that doctors must complete after graduating medical school. Until ...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I recently read that more and more young people are getting diagnosed with colorectal cancer. I'm in my 30s, am I at risk? What does colorectal mean?

ANSWER: The term colorectal cancer combines colon and rectal cancer, two parts of the intestine. The first part of the large intestine is called the colon, and the last part ...Read more

Social media can be a great place to catch up with friends, follow favorite celebrities and watch adorable pygmy hippos. But many people also go there for health advice, and few have seen the implications of that from more angles than Dr. Mikhail Varshavski.

"Doctor Mike" has a huge following: 13.4 million subscribers to his YouTube channel ...Read more

More than three years ago, health insurance giant Centene Corp. settled allegations that it overcharged Medicaid programs in Ohio and Mississippi related to prescription drug billing.

Now at least 20 states have settled with Centene over its pharmacy benefit manager operation that coordinated the medications for Medicaid patients. Arizona was ...Read more

MIAMI — Florida has reported the state’s first measles case this year as other parts of the country try to control a growing outbreak.

The U.S. has recorded more than 100 cases of the disease in 2025, with ground zero Texas reporting the country’s first measles-related death in nearly a decade.

Now, a Miami-Dade County teen is sick with ...Read more

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Democratic state lawmakers, worried about federal efforts to limit transgender and abortion rights, want to amend the state constitution to include protections for gender-affirming and reproductive health care, and hope to put it before voters.

Senate Joint Resolution 8204, introduced this week by prime sponsor Sen. Vandana ...Read more

Early in my career as a pediatrician, it would not be unusual to get a phone call in the middle of the night from the worried parent of a child with a high fever. I got out of bed, met the family in the emergency room and sat with them while their child was evaluated. It could be a terrifying night, with painful tests to rule out serious ...Read more

The COVID-19 pandemic transformed over the past five years from a catastrophic threat that has killed over 7 million people to what most people regard today as a tolerable annoyance that doesn’t require precaution. Nonetheless, COVID-19 continues to kill over 2,000 people per month globally and cause severe illness in the infirm or elderly....Read more

Health care planning can be one of the most important — and often overlooked — aspects of retirement preparation. With rising costs, longer life-spans and the compounding effects of inflation, financial advisers must help clients create robust plans that help secure their financial future.

Here’s a look at why this issue is pressing and ...Read more

When you’re looking for something to slather on a slice of bread, cracker or even a slice of a crisp apple or carrot stick, there’s no shortage of offerings. There are savory and sweet options as well as some that are a little of both.

Depending on what type you choose, there are different nutrients to be aware of. Cheese and yogurt spreads...Read more

If you’ve overlooked cabbage at the grocery store, you’re not alone. Between its mild flavor and funky smell when cooked, the cruciferous vegetable tends to get a bad rap. However, cabbage deserves a chance to shine, as it’s chock-full of essential nutrients. Not convinced? Read on.

Health benefits of cabbage

1. It pumps the brakes on ...Read more

Do you follow certain social media creators, music artists, actors, athletes, or other famous people? Are you a huge fan of particular fictional characters from a book, TV show, or movie? Perhaps you check in with them daily because you feel a connection, care about them, or just love keeping up with the minutiae of their lives.

These one-sided...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I enjoy cooking but prefer working with the freshest ingredients. As such, I grow my own fruits and vegetables in a small garden and purchase other fresh produce from a local farmers market. I've read that certain foods may help with memory function. Are there foods I can eat to help boost my cognitive health?

ANSWER: Research...Read more

Jagdish Whitten was on a run in July 2023 when a car hit him as he crossed a busy San Francisco street. Whitten, then 25, described doing “a little flip” over the vehicle and landing in the street before getting himself to the curb.

Concerned onlookers called an ambulance. But Whitten instead had friends pick him up and take him to a nearby...Read more

Denver saw an increase in youth homelessness from 10% to 25% between 2017 and 2021, according to our study recently published in the peer-reviewed journal “Pediatrics.”

We are two physicians whose clinical work and research focuses on the social causes of health and disease. In particular, we’ve seen firsthand how housing ...Read more

According to U.S. health officials, the number of acute respiratory illnesses causing people to seek medical care remains at a high level. Seasonal influenza activity, in particular, remains elevated across the country.

If you or a family member has the flu or other respiratory infection, Dr. Tina Ardon, a Mayo Clinic family medicine physician,...Read more

ATLANTA — Two years after assuring parents of transgender children that legislation passed in 2023 to ban certain procedures to assist minors in their gender transition was “just a pause,” Republican senators voted Monday to restrict more treatments available to children.

The legislation, sponsored by Senate Health and Human Services ...Read more