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A package of Plan B contraceptive is displayed at Jack's Pharmacy on April 5, 2013, in San Anselmo, California.

Plan B to land in vending machines on Washington college campuses

A package of Plan B contraceptive is displayed at Jack's Pharmacy on April 5, 2013, in San Anselmo, California.

June 16, 2023, 8:00am Health

On the first floor of the University of Washington’s main undergraduate library, one vending machine stands out. Instead of bags of chips and candy, the shelves are stocked with emergency contraception, pregnancy tests and over-the-counter pain medications. Read story

Can a new Pierce County academy help Washington better serve its ailing veterans?

June 16, 2023, 6:03am Health

The Washington Department of Veteran Affairs will open its first on-site Nursing Assistant Academy at the Washington Soldiers Home in Orting this month. Read story

FILE - Pre-loaded syringes with COVID-19 vaccine are ready for use in New Orleans, on Jan. 25, 2022. The COVID-19 vaccines are on track for a big recipe change this fall. Scientific advisers for the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday, June 15, 2023, discussed whether the next round of shots should only include protection against the newest omicron strains that are now dominant worldwide.

FDA advisers endorse updating COVID vaccines to target latest omicron strain

FILE - Pre-loaded syringes with COVID-19 vaccine are ready for use in New Orleans, on Jan. 25, 2022. The COVID-19 vaccines are on track for a big recipe change this fall. Scientific advisers for the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday, June 15, 2023, discussed whether the next round of shots should only include protection against the newest omicron strains that are now dominant worldwide.

June 15, 2023, 4:25pm Health

The COVID-19 vaccines are on track for a big recipe change this fall. Read story

A person is silhouetted against the sky at sunset at Papago Park in Phoenix on Thursday, March 2, 2023. The homicide rate for older U.S. teenagers rose to its highest point in nearly 25 years during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the suicide rate for adults in their early 20s was the worst in more than 50 years, government researchers said Thursday, June 15.

Suicides and homicides among young Americans jumped early in the pandemic, study says

A person is silhouetted against the sky at sunset at Papago Park in Phoenix on Thursday, March 2, 2023. The homicide rate for older U.S. teenagers rose to its highest point in nearly 25 years during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the suicide rate for adults in their early 20s was the worst in more than 50 years, government researchers said Thursday, June 15.

June 15, 2023, 1:35pm Health

The homicide rate for older U.S. teenagers rose to its highest point in nearly 25 years during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the suicide rate for adults in their early 20s was the worst in more than 50 years, government researchers said Thursday. Read story

FILE - Pre-loaded syringes with COVID-19 vaccine are ready for use in New Orleans, on Jan. 25, 2022. The COVID-19 vaccines are on track for a big recipe change this fall. Scientific advisers for the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday, June 15, 2023, discussed whether the next round of shots should only include protection against the newest omicron strains that are now dominant worldwide.

FDA advisers consider changing COVID vaccine to target latest omicron strain

FILE - Pre-loaded syringes with COVID-19 vaccine are ready for use in New Orleans, on Jan. 25, 2022. The COVID-19 vaccines are on track for a big recipe change this fall. Scientific advisers for the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday, June 15, 2023, discussed whether the next round of shots should only include protection against the newest omicron strains that are now dominant worldwide.

June 15, 2023, 9:31am Business

The COVID-19 vaccines are on track for a big recipe change this fall. Read story

International rights group calls out U.S. for allowing hospitals to push millions into debt

June 15, 2023, 9:08am Health

Human Rights Watch, the nonprofit that for decades has called attention to the victims of war, famine, and political repression around the world, is taking aim at U.S. hospitals for pushing millions of American patients into debt. Read story

Youth plaintiffs in the climate change lawsuit, Held vs. Montana, pose outside the Lewis and Clark County Courthouse in Helena, Mont., on Monday, June 12, 2023.

Young athlete in Montana climate change trial testifies he uses inhaler due to forest fire smoke

Youth plaintiffs in the climate change lawsuit, Held vs. Montana, pose outside the Lewis and Clark County Courthouse in Helena, Mont., on Monday, June 12, 2023.

June 14, 2023, 8:11am Health

A high school athlete who along with 15 other young people took Montana to court over climate change testified Tuesday that increased smoke from forest fires makes it difficult for him to compete and that a doctor prescribed an inhaler to help his breathing problems. Read story

The Trueblood Settlement, a civil dispute between Disability Rights Washington and state officials, hinges on the rights of people detained in jail to access basic mental health services. Federal Judge Marsha J. Pechman will hear four days of testimony on the matter. On the line are millions in contempt sanctions that state officials have kept at bay, as well as timely services for detained people who are currently languishing in jail.

As demand for mental health services overwhelms Washington jails, judge revisits settlement

The Trueblood Settlement, a civil dispute between Disability Rights Washington and state officials, hinges on the rights of people detained in jail to access basic mental health services. Federal Judge Marsha J. Pechman will hear four days of testimony on the matter. On the line are millions in contempt sanctions that state officials have kept at bay, as well as timely services for detained people who are currently languishing in jail.

June 13, 2023, 7:40am Health

Wait times for people in Washington jails to get into state psychiatric facilities continue to “skyrocket” five years after a settlement promised to prevent that from happening, a court monitor told a federal judge in Seattle on Monday. Read story

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson.

Washington to get over $370 million from lawsuit resolutions to fight opioid addiction

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson.

June 13, 2023, 7:38am Health

The state of Washington will get $371.8 million to fight opioid addiction after resolving a lawsuit against opioid producing and selling companies, the state Attorney General’s Office announced Monday. Read story

A Burger King Whopper in a wrapper, left, rests next to a McDonald's Big Mac in a container, in Walpole, Mass., Wednesday, April 20, 2022. Environmental and health groups are pushing dozens of fast food companies, supermarket chains and other retail outlets to remove PFAS from their packaging.

What to expect with Washington ban on toxic chemicals in consumer products

A Burger King Whopper in a wrapper, left, rests next to a McDonald's Big Mac in a container, in Walpole, Mass., Wednesday, April 20, 2022. Environmental and health groups are pushing dozens of fast food companies, supermarket chains and other retail outlets to remove PFAS from their packaging.

June 12, 2023, 7:43am Health

The Washington Department of Ecology adopted sweeping rules that will prohibit the use of toxic chemicals like PFAS and bisphenols in certain consumer products. Read story