WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency is strengthening a rule aimed at controlling and cleaning up toxic waste from coal-fired power plants. A proposal would for the first time require safe management of so-called coal ash dumped in hundreds of older landfills, “legacy” ponds and other inactive sites that currently are unregulated at the [...]
SALISBURY, Md. (AP) — Thousands of women living in rural, eastern Maryland have few options when they're looking for someone to deliver their babies. The local hospital doesn't have an obstetrics doctor on staff so most women in this region, flanked by sprawling farm fields and antique stores, turn to the Chesapeake Health Care clinic. [...]
WASHINGTON — Widespread loneliness in the country poses health risks as deadly as smoking a dozen cigarettes daily, costing the health industry billions of dollars annually, the U.S. surgeon general said this week in declaring the latest public health epidemic. About half of adults say they’ve experienced loneliness, Dr. Vivek Murthy said in a report [...]
WASHINGTON — Days out from a surgery and with a young son undergoing chemotherapy, Kyle McHenry was scrambling to figure out if his Florida family will still be covered by Medicaid. One form on the state's website said coverage for their sick 5-year-old son, Ryder, had been denied. Another said the family would remain on [...]
DETROIT (AP) — The number of people killed on roadways decreased slightly last year, but government officials said the 42,795 people who died is still a national crisis. Estimates by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration showed that the number of fatalities dropped 0.3 percent from the 42,939 killed in 2021. Traffic deaths declined slightly [...]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal regulators earlier this week cleared another COVID-19 booster dose for older adults and people with weak immune systems so they can shore up protection this spring — while taking steps to make coronavirus vaccinations simpler for everyone else. The Food and Drug Administration said anyone 65 or older can opt to [...]
Federal regulators have named a veterinary tranquilizer as an "emerging threat" when it's mixed with the powerful opioid fentanyl, clearing the way for more efforts to stop the spread of xylazine. The Office of National Drug Control Policy announced the designation this week, the first time the office has used it since the category for [...]
WASHINGTON (AP) — When the COVID-19 public-health emergency ends next month, people will still have access to a multitude of tests but with one big difference: Who pays for them. For the first time, people may have to pick up some or all of the costs, depending on insurance coverage and whether the tests are [...]
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal health officials released data earlier this week showing how chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis cases have been accelerating, but doctors are hoping an old drug will help fight the sexually transmitted infections. Experts believe STDs have been rising because of declining condom use, inadequate sex education and reduced testing during the [...]
Some 9.2 million lead pipes carry water into homes across the country, with more in Florida than any other state, according to a new Environmental Protection Agency survey that will dictate how billions of dollars to find and replace those pipes are spent. The survey released earlier this week was the first time the agency [...]