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NewsAssociated PressN. Carolina governor signs Medicaid expansion bill into law
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Monday signed a Medicaid expansion law that was a decade in the making and gives the Democrat a legacy-setting victory, although one significant hurdle remains before coverage can be implemented, thanks to a Republican-backed provision. At an Executive Mansion ceremony attended by hundreds, Cooper celebrated passage of expansion legislation, which he's ardently sought since being first elected governor in 2016. It took Republicans in charge of the General Assembly all this time to come around to the idea and agree to offer coverage to more low-income adults, with federal coffers paying for most of it.
HealthAssociated PressSurge in eating disorders spurs state legislative action
Stranded at home amid pandemic lockdowns in spring 2020, Emma Warford stumbled down a social media rabbit hole in her quest to get in shape. Warford, then a 15-year-old starting volleyball player, bought a food scale and began replacing meals with energy drinks hawked by social media stars. The thought of eating cake for her 16th birthday induced severe anxiety.
HealthAssociated PressSuperbug fungus cases rose dramatically during pandemic
U.S. cases of a dangerous fungus tripled over just three years, and more than half of states have now reported it, according to a new study. The COVID-19 pandemic likely drove part of the increase, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wrote in the paper published Monday by Annals of Internal Medicine. Hospital workers were strained by coronavirus patients, and that likely shifted their focus away from disinfecting some other kinds of germs, they said.
ScienceAssociated PressNew COVID origins data point to raccoon dogs in China market
Genetic material collected at a Chinese market near where the first human cases of COVID-19 were identified show raccoon dog DNA comingled with the virus, adding evidence to the theory that the virus originated from animals, not from a lab, international experts say. Many scientists believe it most likely jumped from animals to people, as many other viruses have in the past, at a wildlife market in Wuhan, China. Tedros criticized China for not sharing the genetic information earlier, telling a press briefing that “this data could have and should have been shared three years ago.”
HealthAssociated PressCOVID-19 pill Paxlovid moves closer to full FDA approval
Pfizer’s COVID-19 pill Paxlovid won another vote of confidence from U.S. health advisers Thursday, clearing the way for its full regulatory approval by the Food and Drug Administration. The medication has been used by millions of Americans since the FDA granted it emergency use authorization in late 2021. The agency has the final say on giving Pfizer's drug full approval and is expected to decide by May.
HealthAssociated PressUS pregnancy deaths dropped in 2022, after COVID spike
Deaths of pregnant women in the U.S. fell in 2022, dropping significantly from a six-decade high during the pandemic, new data suggests. More than 1,200 U.S. women died in 2021 during pregnancy or shortly after childbirth, according to a final tally released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2022, there were 733 maternal deaths, according to preliminary agency data, though the final number is likely to be higher.
NewsReutersChinese doctor who blew the whistle on SARS dies at 91
A Chinese military doctor who exposed the full extent of the SARS epidemic when it ripped through Beijing in 2003 has died at the age of 91, according to his friends and local media reports. Jiang Yanyong accused the government of deliberately underreporting the spread of the respiratory disease in an open letter sent to state media in 2003. News of his death was not reported in Chinese state media, as is the norm with politically sensitive public figures.
PoliticsAssociated PressLong-used US abortion pill under threat in Texas lawsuit
A federal judge in Texas raised questions Wednesday about a Christian group's effort to overturn the decades-old U.S. approval of a leading abortion drug, in a case that could threaten the country's most common method for ending pregnancies. Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk heard more than four hours of debate over the Alliance Defending Freedom's request to revoke or suspend the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone. Such a step would be an unprecedented challenge to the FDA and its authority in deciding which drugs to permit on the market.
NewsYahoo News UK'People used to clap': Why striking junior doctors are so fed-up
Thousands of medics are taking part in a three-day walkout that began on Monday, protesting a real-terms cut in wages of 26.1%.
NewsAssociated PressUS agencies debunk Florida surgeon general's vaccine claims
U.S. health agencies have sent a letter to Florida's surgeon general, warning him that his claims about COVID-19 vaccine risks are harmful to the public. The letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was sent Friday to Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo. It was a response to a letter Ladapo had written the agencies last month, expressing concerns about what he described as adverse effects from mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.
NewsAssociated PressNOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn't happen this week
None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. CLAIM: Footage from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol shows that Jacob Chansley, who participated in the riot sporting face paint, no shirt and a fur hat with horns, was “led through the Capitol by police the entire time he was in the building.” THE FACTS: Court documents and video footage from the attack on the Capitol make clear that Chansley, who is widely known as the “QAnon Shaman” and is one of the most recognizable Jan. 6 rioters, entered the Capitol without permission, was repeatedly asked to leave the building and was not accompanied at all times.
PoliticsReutersUS House unanimously backs COVID origins information declassification
The U.S. House of Representatives voted unanimously on Friday to require Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to declassify information on the origins of COVID-19, increasing pressure on President Joe Biden's administration to allow its release. Since the Senate on March 1 passed the bill - by unanimous consent - it now goes to the White House for Biden to sign into law or veto. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his intentions.
PoliticsAssociated PressHouse votes to declassify info about origins of COVID-19
The House voted unanimously Friday to declassify U.S. intelligence information about the origins of COVID-19, a sweeping show of bipartisan support near the third anniversary of the start of the deadly pandemic. The 419-0 vote was final congressional approval of the bill, sending it to President Joe Biden’s desk. It's unclear whether the president will sign the measure into law, and the White House said the matter was under review.
NewsAssociated PressPandemic 3 years later: Has the COVID-19 virus won?
On the third anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic, the virus is still spreading and the death toll is nearing 7 million worldwide. The virus appears here to stay, along with the threat of a more dangerous version sweeping the planet. “New variants emerging anywhere threaten us everywhere,” said virus researcher Thomas Friedrich of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
NewsYahoo News UKSchoolboy, 13, fighting for life after being hit by gritter lorry in Wales
The boy, 13, was injured on the Lansbury Park estate in Caerphilly as he walked to school.
- PoliticsYahoo News Video
During COVID origins hearing, congressman calls out witness for book on race
During a House Oversight subcommittee hearing on Wednesday about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rep. Kweisi Mfume called out one of the witnesses, Nicholas Wade, over his book “A Troublesome Inheritance” and the praise it received from white supremacists.
PoliticsAssociated PressJoe Biden plans new taxes on the rich to help save Medicare
President Joe Biden on Tuesday proposed new taxes on the rich to help fund Medicare, saying the plan would help to extend the insurance program's solvency by 25 years and provide a degree of middle-class stability to millions of older adults. In his plan, Biden is overtly declaring that the wealthy ought to shoulder a heavier tax burden. Biden wants to increase the Medicare tax rate from 3.8% to 5% on income exceeding $400,000 per year, including salaries and capital gains.
NewsAssociated PressMore Medicaid for moms gets Missouri nod after abortion deal
New mothers in Missouri could gain Medicaid health care coverage for up to a year under legislation passed Thursday by the state Senate, part of a national movement of expanded care that began during the coronavirus pandemic. Senators passed the legislation only after inserting wording intended to exclude women who get elective abortions. Missouri has banned most abortions since June.
PoliticsAssociated PressBiden warns of 'MAGA' Republicans' desire to cut spending
President Joe Biden on Tuesday said GOP lawmakers could put millions of people's health care at risk, honing his message ahead of the release of his budget plan next week as Republicans push for him to negotiate over spending levels. The Democratic president spoke at a recreation center in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Using past proposals, Biden said the GOP could try to slash Medicaid and Obamacare benefits, as well as Social Security and Medicare.
NewsAssociated PressFinal state emergencies winding down 3 years into pandemic
California's coronavirus emergency officially ended Tuesday, nearly three years after Gov. Gavin Newsom issued the nation's first statewide stay-at-home order and just days after the state reached the grim milestone of 100,000 deaths related to the virus. As California's emergency winds down, such declarations continue in just five other states — including Texas and Illinois — signaling an end to the expanded legal powers of governors to suspend laws in response to the once mysterious disease. Newsom on Tuesday signed a proclamation officially ending the state of emergency, declaring “the conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property ... no longer exist.”
HealthAssociated PressFDA authorizes combination flu-COVID test for home use
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the first combination test for flu and C OVID-19 that can be used at home, giving consumers an easy way to determine if a runny nose is caused by either disease. The Lucira COVID-19 & Flu Home test, which can be purchased without a prescription, uses self-collected nasal swab samples and delivers results in about 30 minutes, the agency said. While at-home COVID tests are readily available, this is the first home test for influenza A and B, commonly known as the flu.
NewsYahoo News UKWhat is bird flu? 11-year-old girl in Cambodia dies from virus
Health agencies are modelling potential human-transmission scenarios for the H5N1 virus based on the Covid pandemic and the 1918 influenza outbreak, but maintains bird flu does not spread easily to people.
BusinessAssociated PressSliding vaccine sales, new costs, squeeze Moderna 4Q profit
Moderna’s fourth-quarter profit tumbled 70% as COVID-19 vaccine sales fell and the drugmaker caught up on a royalty payment. Heavy research and development costs also weighed on Moderna as the vaccine developer looks to strengthen an income statement currently dominated by its Spikevax coronavirus preventive shots. Moderna said Thursday that its cost of sales jumped nearly a billion dollars to $1.9 billion in the final quarter of 2022.
NewsAssociated PressFDA’s own reputation could be restraining its misinfo fight
The government agency responsible for tracking down contaminated peanut butter and defective pacemakers is taking on a new health hazard: online misinformation. It’s an unlikely role for the Food and Drug Administration, a sprawling, century-old bureaucracy that for decades directed most its communications toward doctors and corporations. “Almost no one should be dying of COVID in the U.S. today,” Califf told The Associated Press, noting the government's distribution of free vaccines and antiviral medications.
NewsAssociated PressHealth care vaccine mandate remains as some push for an end
At Truman Lake Manor in rural Missouri, every day begins the same way for every employee entering the nursing home's doors — with a swab up the nose, a swirl of testing solution and a brief wait to see whether a thin red line appears indicating a positive COVID-19 case. An inspector subsequently cited it for violating the federal government's COVID-19 vaccination requirement for health care facilities. Truman Lake Manor is one of about 750 nursing homes and 110 hospitals nationwide written up for violating federal staff vaccination rules during the past year, according to an Associated Press analysis of data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
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