Health Care
Most Americans want health exceptions in abortion bans. Political infighting keeps blocking them.
The vast majority of Americans — 82%, according to a recent Marist poll — support allowing abortions at any stage of pregnancy to protect the life or health of the pregnant person.
VA reports major uptick in veterans’ care after passage of toxic exposure law
The PACT Act provides that roughly two dozen chronic conditions and illnesses are presumed to be caused by breathing toxins from open burn pits or exposure to other hazards, including Agent Orange and radiation.
‘This is only a start’: Shapiro, lawmakers celebrate signing of maternal mortality bill
The act — formerly known as Senate Bill 262 — was introduced by state Sen. Judy Schwank (D-Berks) and requires Pennsylvania’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee to share each reportable maternal mortality and morbidity event with the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
Medical exceptions to abortion bans often exclude mental health conditions
More than a dozen states now have near-total abortion bans following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, with limited medical exceptions meant to protect the patient’s health or life. But among those states, only Alabama explicitly includes “serious mental illness” as an allowable exception. Meanwhile, 10 states with near-total abortion bans (Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia and Wyoming) explicitly exclude mental health conditions as legal exceptions, according to an analysis from KFF, a health policy research organization.
Women in Congress call for more action on breast cancer prevention, treatment
The representatives widely advocated for bipartisanship in their search for solutions to combat breast cancer.
Pa. lawmakers launch Black Maternal Health Caucus to combat ‘alarming’ maternal mortality rates
Three state lawmakers announced this week the creation of the Black Maternal Health Caucus in an effort to find legislative solutions to Pennsylvania’s high rates of Black maternal mortality and morbidity.
Canceling school lunch debt would have meaningful impact for children’s health
Making sure children have access to healthy school lunches is key in the fight against childhood obesity, writes Dr. Leila Hilal.
Social Security in ‘a full blown crisis,’: Advocates and recipients say the program needs help
Along with low morale and high turnover among overworked staff, recipients regularly endure long wait times — on the phone and in person — for assistance, daunting paperwork, and confusing instructions, all for some of the most vulnerable beneficiaries of the nation’s largest social service program.
Forthcoming legislation would increase interagency coordination for mental health crises
On Dec. 30, 2020, state troopers responded to a 911 report of a possibly suicidal person standing on the edge of an Interstate 80 overpass in Monroe County. That person was 19-year-old Christian Hall, an Asian American, who, amidst a mental health crisis, was shot three times by police that day after he refused officers’ […]
Compassion and science must lead in safe injection debate | Commentary
By Dwayne D. Royster Across Philadelphia, the overdose epidemic is ripping apart families and shattering lives. Marginalized communities suffer the most, perpetuating a cycle of suffering borne of generations of disinvestment and exacerbated by COVID-19. We must take a thoughtful and compassionate approach to addressing this crisis. First, we must confront a sobering reality: the […]
Two Penn professors win 2023 Nobel Prize in Medicine for mRNA research that led to COVID-19 vaccines
Two professors at the University of Pennsylvania were awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday, for their research that led to the mRNA vaccines against COVID-19. Katalin Karikó is an adjunct professor of neurosurgery and Drew Weissman is the Roberts Family Professor of Vaccine Research, both at Penn’s Perelman School of […]
Former COVID-19 czar: The virus ‘new normal’ points to larger public health mission
With COVID-19 still a public health reality but no longer considered a public health emergency, it’s time for policymakers, health care systems and the public to think more broadly about public health, a former White House COVID-19 czar said Thursday. There is a new normal, said Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the school of public […]