Health
Infant Deaths Have Risen for the First Time in 20 Years

The number of American babies who died before their first birthdays rose last year, significantly increasing the nation’s infant mortality rate for the first time in two decades, according to provisional figures released Wednesday by the National Center for Health Statistics. The spike is a somber manifestation of the state of maternal and child health […]

Updated: Nov 1, 2023
Eyedrops From Major Brands May Cause Infection, F.D.A. Says

Federal health officials are advising consumers to stop using more than two dozen over-the-counter eyedrops products because of a potential risk of eye infection that may lead to partial vision loss or blindness. The Food and Drug Administration issued an alert on Friday flagging 26 eye care products including eyedrops and gels from CVS Health, […]

Updated: Oct 29, 2023
Bush’s Institute Issues an Urgent Plea for Congress to Renew His AIDS Program

The institute founded by President George W. Bush issued an urgent call on Wednesday for Congress to renew the global AIDS program known as PEPFAR, a centerpiece of Mr. Bush’s foreign policy legacy that has become a victim of abortion politics on Capitol Hill. PEPFAR — the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief — has […]

Updated: Oct 26, 2023
Psychedelic Mushrooms Hit the Market in Oregon

In a carpeted office suite, Alex Beck settled onto a mattress and, under the watch of a trained guide, began chomping through a handful of “Pumpkin Hillbilly” mushrooms. A Marine Corps veteran who was sexually assaulted during his time in the armed forces, Mr. Beck had long been searching unsuccessfully for a way to put […]

Updated: Oct 23, 2023
To Combat the Opioid Epidemic, Cities Ponder Facilities for Drug Use

Quetcy M. Lozada, a first-term Philadelphia City Council member, stood on a September evening near an elementary school just off Kensington Avenue, the epicenter of a sprawling fentanyl market in a city that saw a record 1,413 drug overdose deaths last year. Just a block away, the street and sidewalks were dotted with used syringes […]

Updated: Oct 20, 2023
Roland Griffiths Is Dead at 77; Led a Renaissance in Psychedelics Research

Roland Griffiths, a professor of behavioral science and psychiatry whose pioneering work in the study of psychedelics helped usher in a new era of research into those once banned substances — and reintroduced the mystical into scientific discourse about them — died on Monday at his home in Baltimore. He was 77. The cause was […]

Updated: Oct 18, 2023
Scientists Investigating Alzheimer’s Drug Faulted in Leaked Report

A neuroscientist whose studies undergird an experimental Alzheimer’s drug was “reckless” in his failure to keep or provide original data, an offense that “amounts to significant research misconduct,” an investigation by his university has concluded. The drug, simufilam, is made by Cassava Sciences, a pharmaceutical company based in Texas, and is in advanced clinical trials. […]

Updated: Oct 14, 2023
FDA Issues Warning Over Misuse of Ketamine Therapy

The Food and Drug Administration issued an alert on Tuesday about the dangers of treating psychiatric disorders with compounded versions of ketamine, a powerful anesthetic that has become increasingly popular among those seeking alternative therapies for depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and other difficult-to-treat mental health problems. Compounded drugs are those that have been modified […]

Updated: Oct 11, 2023
Her Strange Blisters Wouldn’t Go Away. What Was It?

The 49-year-old woman knew as soon as she got out of bed that something was very wrong. A quick survey of her body revealed the source: Sprinkled around her bellybutton were a half dozen blisters. They were small — the largest maybe the size of a pencil eraser — and painful. They looked like the […]

Updated: Oct 7, 2023
Workers Exposed to Extreme Heat Have Few Protections

Anthony Soto, a 22-year-old baggage claim employee at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, crumpled to the floor near gate C15 after a seizure last October that he attributed to hot indoor conditions and strenuous lifting. In record-setting heat in Texas this past summer, Mr. Soto, who has epilepsy, had four more seizures that left […]

Updated: Oct 6, 2023