CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia’s new drug czar has a very personal reason for wanting to end the state’s opioid crisis: He was once addicted to prescription painkillers himself. Dr. Stephen Loyd, who has been treating patients with substance use disorder since he got sober two decades ago, says combating opioid addiction in the state … Read more
BBC In January, Philip Marks says his prognosis was so bad that his oncologist did not think he would live to see February When his health deteriorated last winter, Phillip Marks doubted he would ever play another round of golf, let alone see his 62nd birthday. “They all thought I was going to kick the … Read more
NEW YORK — U.S. suicides last year remained at about the highest level in the nation’s history, preliminary data suggests. A little over 49,300 suicide deaths were reported in 2023, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That number that could grow a little as some death investigations are wrapped … Read more
SAN FRANCISCO — Outreach worker Edgar Tapia hit a San Francisco neighborhood on a mission to find people to take eight available shelter beds, including a tiny cabin perfect for a couple. He approached a cluster of tents in the Mission District, calling out greetings and offers of snacks and water bottles. He crouched to … Read more
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — For decades, Jeff Card’s family company was known for manufacturing the once ubiquitous tin boxes where people could buy newspapers on the street. Today, reach into one of his containers and you may find something entirely different and free of charge: Naloxone, the opioid overdose reversal drug. Naloxone distribution containers have been … Read more
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — A judge on Wednesday dismissed a federal lawsuit challenging a suburban New York ban on wearing masks in public except for health and religious reasons. The class action lawsuit was filed last month by Disability Rights New York on behalf of two individuals with disabilities against Nassau County’s Mask Transparency Act, … Read more
Getty Images Consumers have been told to always follow the dose instructions and measure accurately The food safety watchdog has issued new guidance over caffeine in food supplements after a man died miscalculating the amount he was meant to use. Personal trainer Tom Mansfield, from Colwyn Bay, Conwy county, died in January 2021 after taking … Read more
Getty Images The chair of the Covid inquiry has refused an application from the UK Health Security Agency to keep the identities of two junior clinicians secret. Lawyers for UKHSA applied for an order preventing publication of their names, on the grounds they could be subject to abuse and harassment on social media and in … Read more
Justine Carter (left) experienced a spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) while on the treadmill. At right, she reunites with the EMS team who saved her life at HCA Healthcare’s Mountain View Hospital. (Justine Carter) ‘LISTEN TO YOUR BODY’ – After suffering a heart attack on the treadmill, a young Utah mother issues a warning to … Read more
When Preston Nafz was 12, he asked his dad for permission to play lacrosse. “First practice, he came back, he said, ‘Dad, I love it,’” recalled his father, Lothar Nafz, of Hoover, Alabama. “He lives for lacrosse.” But years of youth sports took a toll on Preston’s body. By the time the teenager limped off … Read more