Over-the-Counter Birth Control now Available in OR; CA to Follow
Women 18 and older in Oregon can now buy birth control pills directly from pharmacists without a doctor’s prescription – and the same will be true in California starting in March, according to Newsweek. The...
Apple’s New CareKit Will Allow for the Creation of Personal Health Apps
A new Apple tool dubbed CareKit slated to launch in April will enable developers and healthcare professionals to create new interactive healthcare-related apps, according to a news release from appleinsider.com. CareKit is designed to work...
FDA Bans E-Cigarettes, Tobacco Sales to People Under 18
The use of cigarettes by people under the age of 18 is decreasing – in part because the use of e-cigarettes is increasing. That’s why the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced new regulations...
Unpublished Study Shakes Up Dietary Guideline Thinking
Forty years ago, while the United States was preparing for the Bicentennial celebration, Minnesota researchers were studying the impact of dietary health guidelines and concluding that conventional wisdom on the subject might be wrong. For...
New Kidney Transplant Procedure Allows for Any Donor
The stark reality for many people waiting to receive an organ transplant is that they just might die before a compatible donor is found. But a new procedure for kidney transplants recently detailed in The...
Task Force Recommends Depression Screenings for Pregnant Women and New Mothers
All adults should be screened for depression – especially pregnant women and new mothers. That’s the conclusion of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which recently published its recommendations in The Journal of the American...
Heroin Death Rates Increasing for Middle-Aged White Americans
In this age of advanced medicine and health consciousness, death rates are falling in the United States. Every age group, racial group and ethnic group are living longer and healthier lives – except one. A...
Paging Dr. Frankenstein: Your Brain is Ready
A U.S. biotech company has received ethical permission to regenerate the brains of dead people. Yes, you read that right. Bioquark Inc., which works on the development of novel biologics for complex regeneration and disease...
Obama Administration Announces Plan to Address Opioid and Heroin Abuse Epidemic
In response to a fast-growing epidemic of prescription drug and heroin abuse, President Obama announced new initiatives designed to enable doctors to more easily use anti-addiction drugs. The White House will allow physicians to prescribe...
Hospital Quality Ratings Delayed after Calls from Congress
Federal hospital quality ratings slated to be released in April were postponed until at least July after the hospital industry and Congress pressed for a delay. The delay occurred one day before the Centers for...