Debate over vinyl chloride has simmered for years, but gained a new urgency after the Feb. 3 derailment of a 50-car Norfolk Southern freight train in East Palestine. Three days later, emergency crews released toxic vinyl chloride from five tank cars and burned it to keep them from exploding.
Health
Loretto Hospital in Austin has reached a tentative deal with about 200 striking workers who took to the picket line July 31.
There were 103 overdose deaths attributable to fentanyl in Cook County in 2015. That number shot up to a record 1,825 in 2022, according to statistics from the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. That accounts for more than 90% of all opioid-related deaths in the county.
The results underscore the new political reality, one that’s been repeatedly demonstrated in both blue and red states: Since the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade last year, abortion rights are a major, driving force.
For the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Medicaid recipients are being asked to provide proof of their eligibility.
An increase in domestic violence reports has not only highlighted the need for better legal protection and laws for survivors, but also the need for creating an improved network of care in cases of abuse. Dozens of organizations in Chicago are working to address those needs.
All of the organs in Dennis Deer’s chest and abdomen — including his lungs — were flip-flopped in his body, with organs that should be on the right existing on the left and vice versa.
It’s estimated that each year in the U.S., more than 400,000 babies are born to mothers who are depressed. Without any treatment, postpartum depression can last for months or even years, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
According to Walgreens, which announced last year it was entering the clinical trials business, only about 5% of people in the U.S. participate in clinical trials and almost three-quarters of those participants are White.
Tissue taken from Henrietta Lacks became the first human cells to continuously grow and reproduce in lab dishes. HeLa cells went on to become a cornerstone of modern medicine, enabling countless scientific and medical innovations.
Loretto Hospital Workers Join SAG-AFTRA Members in Solidarity Rally, as Hospital Strike Enters Day 5
Front-line service, care and technical workers are among the 200 workers at Loretto Hospital in Austin who have been on strike since Monday.
Local public health departments are continuing to monitor COVID-19 levels in the area as the U.S. sees a late-summer uptick in test positivity and hospitalizations.
An infection with RSV is a cold-like nuisance for most healthy people, but it can be life-threatening for the very young and the elderly. There are no vaccines for babies, so the new drug is expected to fill a critical need.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced several new programs to help address the influx of out-of-state abortion seekers the state has seen in the 13 months since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Hospital workers at Loretto Hospital in Austin went to the picket lines Monday after the hospital and its workers union failed to come to an agreement on key bargaining issues such as increased wages and staffing, and adding Juneteenth as a permanent holiday.
Monday’s announcement from the NIH’s $1.15 billion RECOVER project comes amid frustration from patients who’ve struggled for months or even years with sometimes-disabling health problems.
