Health Care
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 […]
Oklahoma’s anti-abortion laws spur greater demand for vasectomies
OKLAHOMA CITY — When Oklahoma City urologist Dr. Basel Hassoun saw the news last summer that the U.S. Supreme Court had overturned Roe v. Wade, he never expected the ruling could impact his job. But about six months after the high court’s decision, he began to see an uptick in the number of patients seeking […]
State reports nearly 60% increase in suicide and crisis line calls
PROVIDENCE — State officials reported Wednesday that the number of residents calling into Rhode Island’s new suicide and crisis hotline has surged by nearly 60% since going online last summer. Gov. Dan McKee said in a press release Wednesday the 988 hotline fielded nearly 6,300 calls between July 2022 and June 2023 — a 58% […]
A new COVID booster is here. Will those at greatest risk get it?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends new COVID-19 booster vaccines for all — but many who need them most won’t get them. About 75% of people in the United States appear to have skipped last year’s bivalent booster, and nothing suggests uptake will be better this time around. “Urging people to get boosters […]
DEM sites in Glocester temporarily closed with EEE risk level now high
State-owned recreational properties in Glocester will temporarily close starting Thursday to lessen the risk of campers, hikers, and anglers being bitten by mosquitoes potentially carrying Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) has announced. The emergency operation order signed late Wednesday by DEM Director Terry Gray described EEE as “an […]
New round of COVID-19 booster shots on the way after CDC recommendation
WASHINGTON — Americans older than six months should get an updated COVID-19 booster this fall, according to a recommendation the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued Tuesday. The vaccine should be available by later this week, the CDC said in a statement. “We have more tools than ever to prevent the worst outcomes from […]
You might need an ambulance, but your state might not see it as ‘essential’
When someone with a medical emergency calls 911, they expect an ambulance to show up. But sometimes, there simply isn’t one available. Most states don’t declare emergency medical services (EMS) to be an “essential service,” meaning the state government isn’t required to provide or fund them. Now, though, a growing number of states are taking […]
Food and Drug Administration approves COVID boosters for upcoming season
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved the latest round of COVID-19 boosters, as public health officials brace for another cold and flu season. An advisory panel at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is scheduled to vote on recommendations Tuesday, the final step in the process before people will […]
Some states back hospital mergers despite record of service cuts, price hikes
Some illnesses and injuries — say, a broken ankle — can send you to numerous health care providers. You might start at urgent care but end up in the emergency room. Referred to an orthopedist, you might eventually land in an outpatient surgery center. Four different stops on your road to recovery. But as supersized […]
R.I. reports first EEE mammal case
A Glocester donkey appears to have contracted Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), marking Rhode Island’s first 2023 case of the virus found in a mammal, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and Rhode Island Department of Health announced on Thursday. The “presumptive positive” test, conducted by a University of Connecticut lab on Tuesday, Sept. 5, […]
Death rates for people under 40 have skyrocketed. Blame fentanyl.
A new Stateline analysis shows that U.S. residents under 40 were relatively unscathed by COVID-19 in the pandemic but fell victim to another killer: accidental drug overdose deaths. Death rates in the age group were up by nearly a third in 2021 over 2018, and last year were still 21% higher. COVID-19 was a small […]
Reed visits Newport clinic to highlight solutions to fentanyl crisis
NEWPORT — The rise in fentanyl-contaminated drugs continues to demonstrate the chilling truth that a single pill holds the potential to be fatal. That is the message of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) “One Pill Can Kill” campaign, which brought U.S. Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) to CODAC Behavioral Healthcare’s Newport clinic on Tuesday. Reed joined […]