The Columbian

Health Wire

Remnants of bird flu virus found in pasteurized milk, FDA says

April 23, 2024, 7:20pm Business

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that samples of pasteurized milk had tested positive for remnants of the bird flu virus that has infected dairy cows. Read story

Kroger to pay Washington $47.5 million over role in opioid crisis

April 23, 2024, 5:41pm Business

The grocery chain Kroger is slated to pay the state of Washington $47.5 million for its role in the opioid epidemic, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced Tuesday. Read story

FILE - President Joe Biden speaks about abortion access during a Democratic National Committee event Oct. 18, 2022, in Washington. As he campaigns for a second term, Biden is highlighting how women’s health has been affected by the overturning of federal abortion protections. His campaign is getting help from two women who say abortion restrictions put them in medical peril. Amanda Zurawski of Texas and Kaitlyn Joshua of Louisiana say their personal experiences are driving them to campaign for Biden in North Carolina and Wisconsin over the next two weeks.

Biden administration tightens rules for obtaining medical records related to abortion

April 23, 2024, 8:07am Health

The medical records of women will be shielded from criminal investigations if they cross state lines to seek an abortion where it is legal, under a new rule that the Biden administration finalized Monday. Read story

Measles was under control in the United States, but the U.S. is seeing outbreaks again in areas where vaccination rates have fallen. Because measles is so contagious, outbreaks happen quickly.

Measles is a preventable disease: What parents need to know about measles, vaccines

April 23, 2024, 6:04am Health

Measles is a highly contagious disease caused by the measles virus. The infection can lead to serious and sometimes fatal complications. Fortunately, measles is a vaccine-preventable illness. Read story

Loneliness can cause an intense desire for sugary foods, a new study found.

Study links sugar cravings, loneliness

April 23, 2024, 6:04am Health

If you’ve spent a lonely night at home eating chocolates and/or ice cream, you shouldn’t feel guilty. That’s because loneliness can cause an intense desire for sugary foods, a new study found. Read story

Vice President Harris announces final rules mandating minimum standards for nursing home staffing

April 22, 2024, 8:25am Health

The federal government is for the first time requiring nursing homes to have minimum staffing levels after the COVID-19 pandemic exposed grim realities in poorly staffed facilities for older and disabled Americans. Read story

FILE - A security guard waves for journalists to clear the road after a convoy carrying the World Health Organization team entered the Huanan Seafood Market on the third day of a field visit in Wuhan in central China’s Hubei province on Jan. 31, 2021. The hunt for COVID-19 origins has gone dark in China. An AP investigation drawing on thousands of pages of undisclosed emails and documents and dozens of interviews found feuding officials and fear of blame ended meaningful Chinese and international efforts to trace the virus almost as soon as they began, despite years of public statements to the contrary.

Toxic: How the search for the origins of COVID-19 turned politically poisonous

April 22, 2024, 8:23am Health

The hunt for the origins of COVID-19 has gone dark in China, the victim of political infighting after a series of stalled and thwarted attempts to find the source of the virus that killed millions and paralyzed the world for months. Read story

Avian flu outbreak raises a disturbing question: Is our food system built on poop?

April 22, 2024, 8:22am Health

If it’s true that you are what you eat, then most beef-eating Americans consist of a smattering of poultry feathers, urine, feces, wood chips and chicken saliva, among other food items. Read story

More kids are dying of drug overdoses. Could pediatricians do more to help?

April 21, 2024, 5:57am Health

A 17-year-old boy with shaggy blond hair stepped onto the scale at Tri-River Family Health Center in Uxbridge, Massachusetts. Read story

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on protections for access to in vitro fertilization on Feb. 27, 2024, in Washington, DC. During the news conference U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) said she would reintroduce her legislation “Access to Family Building Act” in response to Alabama’s State Supreme Court ruling that stated frozen embryos created during IVF are considered children. The news conference was also attended by Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Sen. Patty MUrray (D-WA).

Conservative justices stir trouble for Republican politicians on abortion

April 20, 2024, 6:00am Health

Abortion opponents have maneuvered in courthouses for years to end access to reproductive health care. In Arizona last week, a win for the anti-abortion camp caused political blowback for Republican candidates in the state and beyond. Read story