Health Headlines
Biden administration will expand health care coverage for immigrants under DACA
Participant holds a protest sign at a rally as immigration advocates and allies gathered at Battery Park, New York City, on Oct. 26, 2019. -- Erik Mcgregor/LightRocket via Getty Images, FILE(WASHINGTON) -- The Biden administration has finalized plans to expand government-subsidized health insurance for people brought to the country illegally as children but shielded from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.Immigrants with DACA status receive protections from deportation but had been formerly barred from receiving health care coverage made available by the Affordable Care Act.But now, an estimated 100,000 previously uninsured DACA holders can enroll in coverage, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, fulfilling a pledge the White House made last year."Dreamers are our ... Read More
ABC Newsâ Becky Worley joins research study that could help millions of others
ABC News' Becky Worley undergoes testing at the University of California Davis Medical Center for the All of Us Research Program. -- ABC News(DAVIS, Calif.) -- Becky Worley is an ABC News correspondent based in California. Here, she documents her experience as a participant in the All of Us Research Program, a National Institutes of Health project that aims to study more than 1 million people from all backgrounds.It started like most Good Morning America assignments, an idea from our Med Unit about a new study being conducted by the National Institutes of Health.They pitched the "All of Us" study to our editorial group, and I was asked to bring the story to air. But in the end, it was ... Read More
Ariz. governor signs repeal of 1864 abortion ban, but law may still temporarily take effect
Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images(PHOENIX, Az.) -- Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs on Thursday signed repeal legislation of a long dormant, near-total abortion ban that was recently revived by the state Supreme Court, stirring widespread controversy and debate.Hobbs' signature will reverse the pending reactivation of the restrictive abortion law that dates to 1864 -- but it won't do so immediately.Instead, the ban, which was ruled last month to be enforceable by the Arizona Supreme Court in light of the U.S. Supreme Court overruling Roe v. Wade in 2022, cannot be struck down by the new repeal law until 90 days after the Arizona Legislature adjourns its session by the end of June.However, the Civil War-era law, which ... Read More
Novo Nordisk announces $6B investment in Ozempic, Wegovy amid shortages
Negelle Morris, senior vice president of Novo Nordisk, speaks out on "Good Morning America" about drugs used for weight loss. Via GMA(NEW YORK) -- An executive for Novo Nordisk, the maker of popular drugs used for weight loss including Ozempic and Wegovy, says the company is investing over $6 billion dollars to help meet the increased demand for the drugs amid ongoing shortages and high prices.Negelle Morris, senior vice president and head of U.S. cardiometabolic sales at Novo Nordisk Inc., warned though that even with the increased investment, there will still likely be a delay in getting the drugs to the market."It's not like a light switch," Morris told ABC News' Erielle Reshef in an exclusive interview that aired Thursday ... Read More
Florida doctor speaks on latest six-week abortion ban in the state
ABC News(NEW YORK) -- As Florida's six-week abortion ban took effect Wednesday, Dr. Robyn Schickler, CMO of Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, discussed counseling patients who may be seeking abortions beyond six weeks of pregnancy.Schickler recently had to inform her patients that Florida does not offer abortion services, and had to refer them to nearby states that do. She explains that it is a difficult conversation to have.ABC News Live sat down with Schickler as she discussed the latest abortion ban in Florida.ABC NEWS LIVE: For more about the latest abortion ban in Florida, we want to bring in Chief Medical Officer Dr. Robyn Schickler from Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida. Doctor, thank you so much ... Read More
More than 16K pounds of ground beef sold at Walmart recalled for potential E. coli contamination
Via USDA(NEW YORK) -- A meat processor has recalled approximately 16,234 pounds of raw ground beef products processed in its Pennsylvania facility that may be contaminated with E. coli.The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service announced the recall Wednesday with Cargill Meat Solutions to alert consumers of six different types of ground beef products that should be thrown out.According to the agency, the ground beef may have been contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, a "bacterial strain that is an important food and a waterborne pathogen that causes diarrhea, hemorrhagic colitis, and hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) in humans," according to StatPearls, an online library published in the National Library of Medicine.Details of recalled raw ground beef productsThe raw ground ... Read More
US maternal mortality rates fell in 2022 after three years of increases: CDC
LWA/Dann Tardif/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Maternal mortality rates in the United States fell in 2022 after at least three years of continuous increases, new federal data shows.In 2022, 817 women in the U.S. died of maternal causes with a rate of 22.3 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, according to the report published early Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics.This is a drop from the 1,205 women that died in 2021 with a rate of 32.9 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.Dr. Jessica Shepherd, a Dallas-based OB-GYN, said she believes one reason for the drop from 2021 to 2022 is that in the later months of the COVID-19 pandemic, people were less ... Read More
No avian flu virus detected in sour cream, cottage cheese, powdered infant formula: FDA
Kinga Krzeminska/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Retail dairy samples recently tested for the avian flu virus, including cottage cheese and sour cream, did not detect any viable virus that would represent a risk to consumers, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday.In a joint press briefing with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Dr. Donald Prater, acting director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition for the FDA, shared updates on ongoing bird flu investigations.A multi-state outbreak of bird flu in dairy cows was first reported in late March, according to the CDC. The agency said at the time it had "confirmed one human HPAI A(H5N1) infection that had exposure to ... Read More
Florida’s strictest abortion ban takes effect, prohibiting abortions after 6 weeks of pregnancy
The Good Brigade/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Florida's law banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy took effect on Wednesday, becoming one of the most restrictive states in the country on abortion access.Florida's six-week ban replaced the state's previous 15-week abortion ban, prohibiting the procedure before most women know they are pregnant.In the South, abortion is now either banned or severely restricted in Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas and Louisiana.The closest state to Florida with no gestational limits on abortion is Virginia.On April 1, the Florida State Supreme Court issued a decision to uphold the state's 15-week abortion ban in response to a legal challenge asking the court to throw out the ban.The six-week trigger ban signed into law by Gov. ... Read More
Survey: 3 in 4 Americans feel that mental health takes a back seat to physical health
xijian/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Even though one in five Americans lives with a mental illness, many feel it is not adequately addressed, with a new survey from West Health and Gallup suggesting that three in four Americans believe mental health conditions are not identified and treated in the same way as physical health conditions.Roughly 60% of Americans give a poor or failing grade to how mental health conditions are treated, according to the survey.âThe magnitude [of the problem] really surprised me,â said Tim Lash, president of West Health. He states that the U.S. is not just underperforming -- it is failing on a systemic level and in terms of the number of people with unmet needs.The survey shows the impact of ... Read More
Four dead, more than 50 suspected drug overdoses in Austin ‘outbreak’: Officials
Oliver Helbig/Getty Images(AUSTIN, Texas) -- Officials in Austin, Texas, are investigating an "outbreak" of deadly drug overdoses spreading across the city.Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services (ATCEMS) and the Austin Police Department (APD) said they received a total of 51 calls for suspected overdoses as of Tuesday afternoon, with four suspected deaths related to the surge, according to local ABC News affiliate KVUE.APD said overdose patients range in age from 20s to 50s and across racial/ethnic groups, KVUE reported. Those who died from overdoses have not been identified but their ages range from mid-30s to mid-50s.The surge of calls began around 9:00 a.m. CT Monday morning and were concentrated in the downtown area, Angela Carr, EMS division chief at ATCEMS, said ... Read More
Rural Americans are at higher risk of early death than urbanites: CDC
Terry Eggers/Getty Images(ATLANTA) -- Rural Americans are more likely to die early from one of the five leading causes of death than those who live in urban areas, according to new federal data.Researchers looked at the number of potentially preventable deaths from 2010 through 2022. The report was published Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Rural Americans were more likely to die from heart disease, cancer, unintentional injuries, stroke and chronic lower respiratory disease before age 80 compared to urbanites, researchers said."There is a well-described, rural-urban divide in the United States, where rural residents tend to be sicker and poorer and to have worse health outcomes than do their non-rural peers," Dr. Macarena Garcia, a senior health scientist ... Read More
COVID-19 hospitalizations hit record low, the CDC says
MoMo Productions/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations have hit their lowest level ever reported since the pandemic began, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.There were 5,615 COVID hospitalizations in the most recent week data that is available. In comparison, there were over 150,000 weekly admissions at the peak of the Omicron variant circulating in early 2022."The significant decline in COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths to these new lows is encouraging, showing that our public health measures and vaccination efforts have paid off," said Dr. John Brownstein, chief innovation officer at Boston Childrenâs Hospital and an ABC News medical contributor.Forecasts of new hospitalizations from the CDC indicate that admissions will likely remain stable for the next ... Read More
USDA conducting studies on beef due to bird flu outbreak but maintain supply is safe
Mike Kline (notkalvin)(NEW YORK) -- Federal officials continue to investigate the spread of avian flu, also known as bird flu, in livestock across the country and are now testing the U.S. beef supply to look for the genetic presence of the H5N1 virus.The virus has been found in at least 34 cattle herds across nine states, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The federal agency said it remains confident that the nation's meat supply is safe."There have been no cases of any human being contracting bird flu or H5N1 from meat or milk. So it's completely safe," Dr. Scott Haskell, a professor of food safety at the Institute for Food Laws and Regulations at Michigan State University, told ABC ... Read More
Rural Americans are at higher risk of early death than urbanites: CDC
Steve Prorak/EyeEm/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Rural Americans are more likely to die early from one of the five leading causes of death than those who live in urban areas, according to new federal data.Researchers looked at the number of potentially preventable deaths from 2010 through 2022. The report was published Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Rural Americans were more likely to die from heart disease, cancer, unintentional injuries, stroke and chronic lower respiratory disease before age 80 compared to urbanites, researchers said."There is a well-described, rural-urban divide in the United States, where rural residents tend to be sicker and poorer and to have worse health outcomes than do their non-rural peers," Dr. Macarena Garcia, a senior health ... Read More
Top of page
