Public Health

Women whose health insurance covered in-vitro fertilization were more likely to repeat the procedure if necessary, boosting their likelihood of having a baby, compared with women who had to pay out-of-pocket for the pricey reproductive procedure, a new study found. The study, published this week in JAMA, analyzed the probability that 1,572 women who were IVF patients […]

Las mujeres cuyos seguros de salud cubren la fertilización in vitro (FIV) son más propensas a repetir el procedimiento si el primer intento fracasa, aumentando así sus chances de tener un bebé. Lo opuesto pasa con aquéllas que tienen que pagar de su bolsillo por el costoso procedimiento de fertilización asistida, según un nuevo estudio. […]

There’s a clear culprit in the rising drug overdose death count in Massachusetts — the synthetic opioid fentanyl. More powerful and more deadly than heroin, fentanyl has sparked a new set of survival rules among people who abuse opioids. About 75 percent of the state’s men and women who died after an unintentional overdose last […]

OAKLAND, Calif. — A local environmental advocacy group last week launched a first-of-its kind monitoring project, installing air quality sensors in the densely packed neighborhoods near this city’s port to give the people who live and work there on-the-ground readings of pollutants that can seriously injure their health. The West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, in […]

Just three years ago, Michigan had the fourth-highest rate of unvaccinated kindergartners in the nation. But when a charter school in northwestern Traverse City reported nearly two dozen cases of whooping cough and several cases of measles that November, state officials were jolted to action. Without much fanfare — or time for opponents to respond — they […]

California lawmakers this month will consider legislation that would impose a tax on prescription opioids such as OxyContin and Norco to raise money for addiction treatment and prevention programs. The proposal, introduced by California Assemblyman Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento), would not levy the tax directly on consumers but rather on opioid manufacturers and wholesalers, who would […]

Michael Miller, 44, does what most smokers do to protect his sons and daughter from the fumes of his Marlboro Ultra Lights. He takes it outside. After his 7 a.m. coffee, he walks out of his home in Cincinnati to smoke his first cigarette of the day. Then, as a branch manager of a road […]

With the approval this month of two drugs to treat hepatitis C in children, these often overlooked victims of the opioid epidemic have a better chance at a cure. Kids may have an easier time than adults getting treatment approved, some experts say. Medicaid programs and private insurers have often balked at paying for the pricey […]

A new study of the soda tax in Berkeley, Calif., shows that residents are doing what public health experts had hoped — they’re ditching sugary drinks and opting for healthier beverages. The study, the largest to date of Berkeley’s soda tax, comes as California lawmakers this week again consider legislation to put a warning label on […]

Michael Miller, de 44 años, hace lo que la mayoría de los fumadores hacen para proteger a sus hijos del humo de sus Marlboro Ultra Lights. Lo saca de su hogar. Después de su café de las 7 de la mañana, sale de su casa en Cincinnati para fumar su primer cigarrillo del día. Luego, […]