Tag Archives: health

Antidepressants: What to Know About Uses and Side Effects

Antidepressants are among the most prescribed medications in the United States. This is, in part, because the number of people diagnosed with depression and anxiety has been on the rise, and prescriptions jumped sharply among some age groups during the pandemic. Despite the prevalence of these medications, some patients have “significant misconceptions” about how the […]

FDA Approves Antibiotic to Treat Urinary Infections

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved the sale of an antibiotic for the treatment of urinary tract infections in women, giving U.S. health providers a powerful new tool to combat a common infection that is increasingly unresponsive to the existing suite of antimicrobial drugs. The drug, pivmecillinam, has been used in Europe for […]

Takeaways From the Supreme Court Argument on Idaho’s Abortion Ban

The abortion case before the Supreme Court on Wednesday featured vigorous questioning and comments, particularly by the three liberal justices. At issue is whether Idaho’s near-total ban on abortion is so strict that it violates a federal law requiring emergency care for any patient, including providing abortions for pregnant women in dire situations. A ruling […]

New Nutrition Guidelines Put Less Sugar and Salt on the Menu for School Meals

School meals will soon contain less salt and sugar, but can still include chocolate milk, under new nutrition guidelines released by the Biden administration. The Agriculture Department on Wednesday finalized the regulation it had first proposed in February 2023, having weakened several provisions after feedback from food companies, school nutrition professionals and over 136,000 public […]

Breaking Down New Rules About ‘Forever Chemicals’

Times Insider explains who we are and what we do and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together. Cookware. Dental floss. Shampoo. Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS, can be found in those items and hundreds of other household products. Nicknamed “forever chemicals” because they do not fully degrade, PFAS are resistant […]

W.H.O. Broadens Definition of Airborne Diseases

In the early days of the Covid pandemic, a team of scientists called on the World Health Organization to acknowledge that the disease could spread through the air. Initially, the agency rebuffed them, despite growing evidence that coronavirus-laden droplets stuck around in the air, making indoor spaces hotbeds of infection. The researchers responded with a […]

Abortion Data Wars: States and Cities Debate How Much Information to Collect

In the fierce debate over abortion in the United States, the subject of data collection might seem wonky and tangential. But the information that state and city governments collect about abortion patients is becoming another flashpoint in the country’s bitter divide over the issue. Some states with Republican-controlled legislatures have moved to require more information […]

Lori and George Schappell, Long-Surviving Conjoined Twins, Die at 62

Lori and George Schappell, conjoined twins whose skulls were partly fused but who managed to lead independent lives, died on April 7 in Philadelphia. They were 62. Their death, at a hospital, was announced by a funeral home, which did not cite a cause. Dr. Christopher Moir, a professor of surgery at the Mayo Clinic, […]