The Columbian

Demonstrators attend an abortion rights rally outside the Idaho State Capitol in Boise, Idaho, on May 14, 2022. (Sarah A.

After Idaho’s strict abortion ban, OB-GYNs stage a quick exodus

May 5, 2023, 10:25am Health

At a brewery in this northern Idaho city, hundreds of people recently held a wake of sorts to mourn the closure of Sandpoint’s only labor and delivery ward, collateral damage from the state’s Republican-led effort to criminalize nearly all abortions. Read story

FILE - Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, testifies during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing to examine an update on the ongoing Federal response to COVID-19, June 16, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Walensky submitted her resignation Friday, May 5, 2023, saying the waning of the COVID-19 pandemic was a good time to make a transition.

CDC’s Rochelle Walensky resigns, citing pandemic transition

May 5, 2023, 10:04am Health

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, submitted her resignation Friday, saying the waning of the COVID-19 pandemic was a good time to make a transition. Read story

Official: Loneliness poses risks as deadly as smoking

May 5, 2023, 9:46am Health

Widespread loneliness in the U.S. poses health risks as deadly as smoking up to 15 cigarettes daily, costing the health industry billions of dollars annually, the U.S. surgeon general said Tuesday in declaring the latest public health epidemic. Read story

Gov. Jay Inslee on Thursday, May 4, signed a bill addressing some of the barriers prospective home care workers in Washington face when trying to get certified to provide care for older adults and people with disabilities. The bill was introduced by Sen. Lynda Wilson, R-Vancouver, who noted an incoming “silver tsunami” while speaking at a January hearing before the Senate Health & Long Term Care Committee in Olympia.

Washington to tackle caregiver shortage with new plan to reduce barriers

May 5, 2023, 9:29am Health

Gov. Jay Inslee on Thursday signed a bill addressing some of the barriers prospective home care workers in Washington face when trying to get certified to provide care for older adults and people with disabilities. Read story

This illustration provided by Perrigo in May, 2023, depicts proposed packaging for the company's birth control medication Opill. Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration meet next week to review drugmaker Perrigo's application to sell a decades-old pill over the counter. The two-day public meeting is one of the last steps before an FDA decision.

FDA weighing 1st over-the-counter birth control pill

May 5, 2023, 9:21am Health

U.S. health regulators are weighing the first-ever request to make a birth control pill available without a prescription. Read story

Health Wire

After Idaho’s strict abortion ban, OB-GYNs stage a quick exodus

CDC’s Rochelle Walensky resigns, citing pandemic transition

Official: Loneliness poses risks as deadly as smoking

Washington to tackle caregiver shortage with new plan to reduce barriers

FDA weighing 1st over-the-counter birth control pill

COVID dropped to 4th leading cause of death in U.S. last year

West Virginia settles with Kroger, opioid money now tops $1B

Weight-loss company Jenny Craig shutting down after 4 decades

U.S. approves first vaccine for RSV after decades of attempts

Eli Lilly says experimental drug slows Alzheimer’s worsening