WASHINGTON — Five months after the Trump administration rolled out its grand plans for a signature “Make America Healthy Again” agency, Congress has shied away from taking steps to bring the new agency to fruition.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced his plan for the agency in March amid a wide-scale ...Read more

The number of people receiving treatment at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center — the renowned research hospital that cares for patients with rare or life-threatening diseases — has tumbled under the second Trump administration, according to government documents and interviews with current and former NIH employees.

NIH ...Read more

EKALAKA, Mont. — There was no doctor on-site when a patient arrived in early June at the emergency room in the small hospital at the intersection of two dirt roads in this town of 400 residents.

There never is.

Dahl Memorial’s three-bed emergency department — a two-hour drive from the closest hospital with more advanced services — ...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I have two sons, ages 5 and 11. My eldest is always excited to start school and have new adventures. My younger son will begin kindergarten this year. Although he went to child care part-time, my younger son has begun to express concern about being away from me all day and is showing increased anxiety as we talk about school. ...Read more

Amblyopia, also known as "lazy eye," is a common eye condition in kids that develops when a child has an eye that does not see well. This is caused by a poor connection between the eye to the brain, which can happen for a variety of different reasons. Amblyopia is more common in one eye but can also happen in both eyes.

To restore normal vision...Read more

For years, state lawmakers have taken the lead on regulating kratom — the controversial herbal supplement used for pain relief, anxiety and opioid withdrawal symptoms. Some states have banned it entirely. Others have passed laws requiring age limits, labeling and lab testing.

At least half of the states and the District of Columbia have ...Read more

COVID-19 rates in the Southwestern United States reached 12.5% — the highest in the nation — according to new data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released this week. Meanwhile, Los Angeles County recorded the highest COVID-19 levels in its wastewater since February.

Combined, California Nevada and Arizona clocked ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — A new study has found that people who lived in areas with high levels of leaded gasoline emissions in the 1960s and '70s are more likely to report memory problems today — a finding that researchers say could deepen our understanding of environmental risks tied to dementia.

The study and others presented in July at the 2025 ...Read more

BALTIMORE – COVID-19 hospitalizations in Maryland are up 123% over the last two weeks, the most hospitalizations in a month since April. While the state has typically seen a surge in COVID-19 cases during summer, this one is coming later than usual.

According to data from Maryland Department of Health Vital Statistics Administration, newly ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The latest California numbers suggest 2025 will be another record-smashing year for valley fever, the illness linked to drought and precipitation and spread by fungal spores.

There were 6,761 cases reported through the end of July, according to state health officials — a significant increase over the 10-year average of 3,833 ...Read more

DALLAS — Every party needs balloons. These just happen to be filled with laughing gas.

“We don’t do it that often. It’s funny for about 30 seconds,” said a concertgoer outside Red Rocks Amphitheatre, who was preparing to inhale nitrous oxide from a balloon before The String Cheese Incident played there in mid-July. She requested ...Read more

President Donald Trump’s administrations have been notorious for an array of “alternative facts” — ranging from the relatively minor (the size of inaugural crowds) to threats to U.S. democracy, such as who really won the 2020 election.

And over the past six months, the stakes have been life or death: Trump’s health officials have been...Read more

MIAMI — GOP lawmakers in the 10 states that refused the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion for over a decade have argued their conservative approach to growing government programs would pay off in the long run.

Instead, the Republican-passed budget law that includes many of President Donald Trump’s priorities will pose at least as ...Read more

A long list of Lynda Hollander’s paternal relatives had heart disease, and several had undergone major surgeries. So when she hit her mid-50s and saw her cholesterol levels creeping up after menopause, she said, “I didn’t want to take a chance.”

A cardiologist told Hollander that based on factors like age, sex, cholesterol, and blood ...Read more

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Department of Public Health raised the risk level for West Nile Virus, or WNV, to high in many communities, urging residents to protect against the mosquito-borne disease.

“WNV findings in mosquitoes have accelerated rapidly over the last several weeks,” State Epidemiologist Catherine Brown said. “We are now ...Read more

Thousands of DACA recipients in California who are no longer eligible for the Affordable Care Act coverage are urged to take action before losing health care access at the end of the month.

Last summer, the Biden Administration increased access to health coverage for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients. The rule allowed Covered ...Read more

The measles outbreak in Texas has slowed “dramatically” in recent weeks, but experts still expect the virus to continue to spread.

“We’re very pleased to see this trend and optimistic about the trend going forward,” said Dr. Varun Shetty, the state’s chief epidemiologist, during a meeting of the state’s Public Health Funding and ...Read more

NEW YORK — There have now been 90 confirmed cases of legionnaires’ disease in central Harlem, and 15 people are currently hospitalized battling the disease, the city’s health department announced this week.

Three people have already died in the outbreak, which has affected zip codes 10027, 10030, 10035, 10037 and 10039, according to the ...Read more

In the event of a disaster or emergency, Medicare Advantage plans (MA plans) must ensure that members in affected areas can continue to access care and prescription drugs. These special rules are triggered by a formal declaration of emergency or disaster by a federal or state government. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) created a ...Read more