US Officials Want to End the HIV Epidemic by 2030. Many Stakeholders Think They Won’t.

MIAMI — In 2018, Mike Ferraro was living on the street and sharing needles with other people who injected drugs when he found out he was HIV-positive. “I thought it was a death sentence, where you have sores and you deteriorate,” he said. Ferraro learned of his HIV status through a University of Miami Miller […]

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Pain, Hope, and Science Collide as Athletes Turn to Magic Mushrooms

If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or the Crisis Text Line by texting “HOME” to 741741. In Canada, call Talk Suicide Canada at 1-833-456-4566 or text 45645 from 4 p.m.-midnight ET. WAKEFIELD, Jamaica — The boxer felt […]

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The Biden Administration Vowed to Be a Leading Voice on Opioid Settlements But Has Gone Quiet

Early in President Joe Biden’s tenure, his administration promised to play a key role in ensuring opioid settlement funds went toward tackling the nation’s addiction crisis. During the 2020 campaign, Biden had laid out a plan to appoint an “opioid crisis accountability coordinator” to support states in their lawsuits against companies accused of sparking the […]

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Tension Builds in Transgender Policy Debate in Montana

On April 13, Democratic Rep. Zooey Zephyr was sitting in the basement of Montana’s Capitol building reflecting on her time as one of the state’s first two openly transgender legislators. She wondered whether she needed to display more anger over anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, or whether she should focus on promoting more of what she called “transgender […]

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Will They or Won’t They (Block the Abortion Pill)?

The Host Supreme Court justices could act at any moment on access to the abortion pill mifepristone. Beyond reproductive health, their ruling could carry significant implications for states’ rights and FDA independence and integrity. For now, though, observers are unsure what the court will do — or what exactly prompted justices to again delay their […]

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Lose Weight, Gain Huge Debt: NY Provider Has Sued More Than 300 Patients Who Had Bariatric Surgery

Seven months after Lahavah Wallace’s weight loss operation, a New York bariatric surgery practice sued her, accusing her of “intentionally” failing to pay nearly $18,000 of her bill. Long Island Minimally Invasive Surgery, which does business as the New York Bariatric Group, went on to accuse Wallace of “embezzlement,” alleging she kept insurance payments that […]

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The CDC Lacks a Rural Focus. Researchers Hope a Newly Funded Office Will Help.

Christina Saint Louis In 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published multiple reports analyzing health disparities between rural and urban populations. That effort pleased researchers and advocates for improving rural health because the dozen or so examinations of rural health data provided important details about the 46 million Americans who live away from […]

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California’s Medicaid Experiment Spends Money to Save Money — And Help the Homeless

SAN DIEGO — Sporting a bright smile and the polished Super Bowl ring he won as a star NFL player in the late 1980s, Craig McEwen doesn’t fit the archetype of someone teetering on the brink of homelessness. Evicted from his San Diego County apartment last July, McEwen — who endured repeated concussions during his […]

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Social Media Is Fueling Enthusiasm for New Weight Loss Drugs. Are Regulators Watching?

Suzette Zuena is her own best advertisement for weight loss. Zuena, the “founder/visionary” of LH Spa & Rejuvenation in Livingston and Madison, New Jersey, has dropped 30 pounds. Her husband has lost 42 pounds. “We go out a lot,” Zuena said of the pair’s social routine. “People saw us basically shrinking.” They would ask how […]

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