May 21 Over 1 million claims related to toxic exposure granted under new veterans law, Biden announces By Seung Min Kim, Associated Press His administration said Tuesday more than 1 million claims have been granted to veterans since Biden signed the so-called PACT Act into law in August 2022. Continue reading
May 20 U.S. pediatricians say HIV-positive mothers treated for symptoms can breastfeed, reversing long-held guidance By JoNel Aleccia, Associated Press A top U.S. pediatricians’ group says people with HIV can breastfeed as long as they are taking medications that effectively suppress the virus that causes AIDS. Continue reading
May 19 Watch 6:51 What more can be done to treat Lyme disease and its potential long-term effects By Ali Rogin, Andrew Corkery As many as 476,000 people in the U.S. contract Lyme disease each year, according to the CDC. For most people, symptoms go away after two to four weeks of antibiotics, but five to 10 percent of patients have debilitating, long-term… Continue watching
May 16 Justice Department formally moves to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug in historic shift By Lindsay Whitehurst, Associated Press A proposed rule sent Thursday to the federal register recognizes medical uses of cannabis and acknowledges it has less potential for abuse than some of the most dangerous drugs. Continue reading
May 15 How bird flu puts workers on farms and in food processing plants at higher risk By Laura Santhanam Workers on the front lines may be handling animals and food products before they have been treated for possible bird flu contamination. Continue reading
May 15 Overdose fatalities fell last year, but the full picture is more complicated By Laura Santhanam While these national figures offer a rare glimmer of good news on this grim issue, outcomes vary greatly in different states. Continue reading
May 14 8,000 women a month got abortion pills despite their states’ bans or restrictions, survey finds By Laura Ungar, Geoff Mulvihill, Associated Press The abortion-rights group Society for Family Planning issued its #WeCount survey Tuesday showing providers in states with laws that seek to protect them from prosecution by other states were writing prescriptions that covered about 1 in 10 abortions nationally. Continue reading
May 14 Raw milk sales spike despite CDC’s warnings of risk associated with bird flu By JoNel Aleccia, Associated Press From 1998 to 2018, the CDC documented more than 200 illness outbreaks traced to raw milk, which sickened more than 2,600 people and hospitalized more than 225. Continue reading
May 13 Mississippi Gov. Reeves signs law restricting transgender people’s use of bathrooms and locker rooms By Emily Wagster Pettus, Associated Press Reeves on Monday criticized a federal regulation banning blanket policies that bar transgender students from school bathrooms aligning with their gender, among other provisions. Continue reading
May 11 Watch 6:43 What to know about new COVID variants and the spread of bird flu and measles By John Yang, Andrew Corkery, Kaisha Young Hospitalizations for COVID are at an all-time low four years after the start of the pandemic, but new variants are in circulation. Meanwhile, bird flu has been found in 36 dairy herds across nine states, though there has been only… Continue watching