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The pharmacy giants have announced settlements totaling $10 billion for their opiate business
CVS Health has announced that it will acquire Oak Street Health for $10.6 billion in a deal that will give it one of the largest Medicare Advantage health plans. Oak Street Health has 160 health clinics in 21 states. The deal marks the third-largest acquisition in the US health care sector so far this year…
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700 flights have been canceled as winter weather moves in
Southwest Airlines on Monday cancelled all its flights for the second day in a row due to the coronavirus outbreak in California. The airline, which has now cancelled over 7,000 flights this year, has apologised to its customers and said that they’ll work the whole night and day to repair its relationship with them.
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The US mid-term elections have three ways science is on the line
The US’ National Institute of Health released a plan to change how it scores its research grant applications. Under the new system, reviewers would no longer rate researchers’ access to resources or expertise, and there would be fewer scoring criteria. In addition to considering race and gender of reviewers, ensuring that Panels have representation from…
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The illegal fishing and eight billion people are related
Developing coronavirus variants need to be sequenced to avoid detection in Europe, Vitali Sintchenko, a microbiologist at Sydney’s University of Sydney said. The study’s authors suggested that molnupiravir treatment has sparked the evolution of viral lineages carrying numerous mutations that, in at least some cases, have the capacity to spread to other individuals.
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Changes in teens’ blood pressure are associated with the types of air pollution
A study found particle pollution exposure may affect the ability of the kidneys to excrete salt in the daytime and lead to a higher nighttime blood pressure level. There is a higher risk of Stroke or heart attack for adolescents with high blood pressure, said the study by UK Biobank. It is possible that pollution…
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Scientists warn that the XBB. 1.5 may be the most transmissible subvariant of Omicron to date
The WHO’s Covid-19 response technical lead, Maria Van Kerkhove, said that the large mix of new variants is becoming more difficult for the organisation to assess because countries were dialing back on their surveillance. “We’ll soon have data on how well vaccines neutralise XBB.1.5,” Jha said, suggesting research to determine vaccine effectiveness against the new…
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The study found that ultraprocessed foods were linked to ovarian and other cancer deaths
A new study has found that people who eat more ultraprocessed foods also tend to “drinkmore fizzy drinks and less tea and coffee, as well as less vegetables and other foods associated with a healthy dietary pattern.” Researchers at Aston Medical School in Birmingham, UK, said reducing ultraprocessed foods in our diet could provide important…
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There is a possibility to order free COVID tests again
The US government has announced that it would provide free COVID-19 tests to the general public. The government is also providing free tests to private insurance plans for people who meet certain eligibility criteria. This comes after the US House of Representatives passed a bill to end the COVID-19 public health emergency last week without…
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In New York City the vaccine mandate for employees of the government is being removed
A US judge has ruled that New York City’s vaccine requirement for public employees was ” irrational and unconstitutional” and ordered city to reinstate 16 sanitation workers who were fired over not getting the vaccine. The city filed a notice of appeal indicating its intent to fight the ruling. If the court ruling is upheld,…
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An elementary student describes the horror of being locked in a Virginia classroom where police say a child shot a teacher
A lawsuit filed against Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, the former police chief of the school and Oasis Outback has said that the shooter’s background check was clean. “Oasis Outback sold him the guns…knowing he was suspicious…and likely dangerous,” it added. The lawsuit further alleged that the Uvalde school’s former principal created a dangerously unsafe…
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Girl Scout cookies should not be served with a side of shame
A teen girl in the US has asked if she should hire a health coach after her mother’s weight loss journey. “It’s important to remember this…parents are influencers, too,” a parent coach said. “I believe…making healthy choices… starts when you feel good about yourself,” the coach added. “To be that raw…in front of…camera, I think…
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Here are some things you can do to make your holiday plans
US’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said that people who haven’t had exposure to the virus should test positive for COVID-19 within five days of exposure. The agency added that people should stay in public wearing a mask until at least 10 days after exposure if they have a different viral illness.
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The fossil preservation and evolution of the fish brain is exceptional.
A University of Michigan study has found that a fossil of the skull belonging to the extinct Coccocephalus wildi is a biologically active fish. “This indicates that the telencephalon configuration seen in live ray-finned fishes must’ve emerged much later than previously thought,” lead study author Rodrigo Tinoco Figueroa said. The fossil was found in a…
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Where to find rapid covid-19 tests.
US President Joe Biden on Tuesday ordered the third round of rapid at-home COVID-19 tests to be available for free to Americans who don’t have health insurance or who haven’t been vaccinated against COVID-19. People with private insurance will have to pay full price for at-home tests at drugstores after that, WIRED said. This comes…
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Where to find rapid covid-19 tests.
US President Joe Biden on Tuesday ordered the third round of rapid at-home COVID-19 tests to be available for free to Americans who don’t have health insurance or who haven’t been vaccinated against COVID-19. People with private insurance will have to pay full price for at-home tests at drugstores after that, WIRED said. This comes…
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The Christmas season will be a hard time for a prosperous city in Hungary.
The Hungarian government has been criticised for not doing enough to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the UK-based charity World Health Organization (WHO). It said that Hungary had allowed the virus to spread through its population, adding that the country was the only country in Central Europe that did not do…
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Older adults are especially good candidates to get a COVID booster.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday said the bivalent COVID-19 vaccine “performed well against COVID-19-associated hospitalisation in older adults”, a study found. The study was conducted by the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control and the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
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The opinion is that a knock at the door doesn’t mean much in China.
China will allow citizens to return from abroad for Lunar New Year amid concerns that the virus could make its way into rural areas, a report said. It added that people in big cities are expected to return to their hometowns, bringing the virus to the rural areas where vaccinationRates are lower and medical resources…
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African scientists say aid from the west is backfiring.
African countries should revamp their centralised disease surveillance systems to end the exportation of health-care workers, a researcher has said. He added, “The real issue is that African countries rely too much on the West.” The researcher further said that African countries should start paying salaries that people deserve so they don’t leave the continent…
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Funding equity for researcher-mums is a call that has been made.
A study in Australia has revealed that the proportion of female and non-binary research scientists in the country has decreased from 35% in 2016 to 25% in 2020. This comes after the National Health Research Council (NHRC) implemented gender quotas in research funds. The NHRC will award half of its mid- and late-career research grants…
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The world requires processed food.
Ultra-processed foods are associated with an increase in cancer mortality, a study by Imperial College London found. The study found that the risk of dying from cancer increased by six per cent for each additional ten per cent increase in ultraprocessed food consumption. Overly processed foods include soups, sauces, frozen pizza and ready-to-eat meals, among…
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The family of a double-amputee claims that police used excessive force.
Police in US’ San Antonio have released a video of an officer shooting at a teenager who was in the car in a restaurant parking lot. In the video, the officer is seen ordering the teenager out of the car, and then opening the car’s door and shooting five times. The teenager was taken to…
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The new way to protect abortion access is outlined in the opinion.
A US appeals court has rejected an appeal seeking to overturn the state’s new law that banned most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The judge ruled that the law violates the constitutional right to privacy of a woman who gets an abortion. The US Supreme Court overturned the law in June, allowing states to…
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About 4 minutes after a man with high-Capacity magazines opened fire at a school, police entered.
An 18-year-old man opened fire at a US high school on Wednesday, killing at least two people and injuring four others, officials said. As many as three students were critically injured in the incident. The gunman was found dead at the scene, while another student died after being airlifted to a hospital, police said.
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According to 6 experts, how to fix American health care is an opinion.
The US government will end the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) on May 11, 2020, it said. It added that the government will give at least 60 days’ notice prior to ending the PHE. “This wind down would align with Administration’s previous commitments to give at least 60 days’ notice prior to termination of the…
