Category: public-health

This July marks the 50th anniversary of the exposure by a social worker of the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) Syphilis Study at Tuskegee. For 40 years, from 1932 to 1972, the USPHS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which was established by the USPHS and took over the study in 1957, intentionally… Continue reading 50 Years After Tuskegee: A Q&A With Patrice Harris, MD

In the past several weeks, half-empty shelves in the “feminine hygiene” area of local pharmacies and grocery stores have become commonplace because of a shortage of tampons in the United States. According to some reports, there’s only a 30 percent stock of tampons in stores around the country, with Arkansas and West Virginia among the… Continue reading What's Up With the Tampon Shortage?

As water temperatures rise and more Americans hit the beach, it’s not unusual to see an increase in cases of flesh-eating bacteria, or necrotizing fasciitis. This summer has been no exception, but climate change may be contributing to an increase in infections in more parts of the country. According to an article published June 17,… Continue reading What You Need to Know About Flesh-Eating Bacteria

If you’ve seen alarming headlines on social media or news sources recently about a massive “seaweed blob” threatening Florida’s beaches just in time for spring break, don’t panic or cancel your vacation plans just yet. This particular blob won’t creep, leap, glide, slide, or otherwise invade the U.S. coastline, says Yuyuan Xie, PhD, an oceanographer… Continue reading Is the Florida Seaweed Blob Dangerous?

Everyday Health spoke to Wayne Turner, a senior attorney in the National Health Law Program (NHeLP), to discuss what’s at stake for LGBTQ+ healthcare and civil liberties following the overturn of Roe v. Wade. Turner is a long-time advocate for consumer health protections. Prior to his legal career, Turner was a cofounder of ACT UP… Continue reading LGBTQ+ Healthcare at Risk After Abortion Rights Loss

You’ve likely seen numerous headlines about climate change on websites and TV lately, but you may be wondering what factors such as rising sea levels and warmer temperatures mean for you now. Believe it or not, environmental changes like these and others have direct and indirect effects on your health. “Climate change is no longer… Continue reading How Climate Change Affects Health — and How to Protect Yourself

The decision, which invalidates the 1973 Roe v. Wade court ruling that made abortion access the law of the land in the United States, means that states will determine whether it is legal to seek an abortion. Depending on where a person lives, it may be necessary to travel long distances to find a state and… Continue reading How Abortion Denial Damages Public Health

A lawsuit filed by the estate of Henrietta Lacks alleges that the biotech company Thermo Fisher Scientific made a conscious choice to sell and mass produce the living tissue of Henrietta Lacks, despite knowing that Lacks’s tissue had been taken without her consent by doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital. The cells, nicknamed “HeLa” cells, are… Continue reading The Estate of Henrietta Lacks Sues Biotech Company for Selling 'Stolen' Cells

Nearly half of all drugs launched in the last two years initially cost above $150,000 a year, according to a paper from researchers at Harvard Medical School. The study, published in JAMA, is well-timed: Congress is renewing discussions about drug price controls. “Prices for newly marketed brand-name drugs are increasing markedly each year — these… Continue reading The Cost of New Drugs May Keep Many Patients From Accessing Essential Medications

Sharks have been spotted in unusual numbers along the East Coast and the coast of California this summer — and, in a few nonfatal instances, they have bitten people. In June, a swimmer in Monterey Bay, California, survived a great white shark bite after being rescued by surfers. Last week, a surfer on Long Island, New… Continue reading Shark Sightings Rise, But Attacks Remain Rare