The Columbian

Health Wire

“Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum,” by Antonia Hylton (Legacy Lit)

Black patients forced to build their own asylum in early 1900s

January 27, 2024, 5:59am Health

12 of them — arrived at Maryland’s Hospital for the Negro Insane in 1911, the asylum had yet to be built. “It would be the first and only asylum in the state, and likely the nation, to force its patients to build their own hospital from the ground up,” Antonia… Read story

Robitussin maker recalls several lots of cough syrup due to contamination

January 25, 2024, 8:49am Business

The maker of Robitussin cough syrup is recalling several lots of products containing honey due to contamination that could pose a serious risk to people with weakened immune systems. Read story

Transgender veterans sue to have gender-affirming surgery covered by Department of Veteran Affairs

January 25, 2024, 8:37am Health

A group of transgender veterans filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking to force the Department of Veteran Affairs to begin providing and paying for gender-affirming surgeries. Read story

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson speaks on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, in Olympia, Wash. Ferguson announced a $149.5 million settlement Wednesday with drugmaker Johnson & Johnson, more than four years after the state sued the company over its role fueling the opioid addiction crisis.

Washington reaches nearly $150 million settlement with Johnson & Johnson over opioid crisis

January 24, 2024, 1:54pm Health

The Washington state attorney general announced a $149.5 million settlement Wednesday with drugmaker Johnson & Johnson, more than four years after the state sued the company over its role fueling the opioid addiction crisis. Read story

Former U.S. Surgeon General talks about new opioid overdose treatment

January 23, 2024, 8:00am Health

A new drug was approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat opioid overdose in May 2023 which may be a new tool to address the opioid epidemic. Read story

Local doctors are warning of a potential "tripledemic" this fall, consisting of the flu, respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, and COVID-19.

Respiratory viruses down in WA, but still circulating at high levels

January 22, 2024, 7:32am Health

The holiday season has passed. Gatherings have slowed. But don’t let your guard down just yet — experts say we’re still in the midst of respiratory virus season. Read story

Mila Clarke noticed an Ç&fnof;úeye-openingÇ&fnof;ù difference in how she was treated after being diagnosed with whatÇ&fnof;Ùs often called latent autoimmune diabetes of adults versus how she was treated after being misdiagnosed with Type 2 diabetes four years earlier. Ç&fnof;úSome of the harshest comments that I had gotten were from people with Type 1 who were like, Ç&fnof;ÚWe’re not the same. I didn’t cause this. I didn’t do this to myself,Ç&fnof;ÙÇ&fnof;ù Clarke says.

These patients had to lobby for correct diabetes diagnoses. Was their race a reason?

January 21, 2024, 6:05am Health

When Phyllisa Deroze was told she had diabetes in a Fayetteville, North Carolina, emergency department years ago, she was handed pamphlets with information on two types of the disease. One had pictures of children on it, she recalled, while the other had pictures of seniors. Read story

Critics claim to find flaws in dozens of Alzheimer’s studies by Temple scientist

January 21, 2024, 6:00am Health

When Temple University scientist Domenico Praticò helped secure a $3.8 million state grant to study Alzheimer’s disease, school officials hailed the news as a sign that his research center was “poised to become a national leader in dementia research.” Read story

Hoping to clear the air in casinos, workers seek to ban tobacco smoke

January 21, 2024, 5:34am Business

The instant Tammy Brady felt the lump in her breast in February 2022, she knew it was cancer. With no known genetic predisposition for breast cancer, she suspects 38 years of working in smoky Atlantic City casinos played a role. Read story