Sickle cell disease affects about 5,000 people across Illinois — and it’s mostly impacting Black communities. While gene therapies have emerged to treat the disease, high costs can limit access.
Health
In nearly 90 minutes of arguments, a consensus appeared to emerge that the abortion opponents who challenged the FDA’s approval of the medication, mifepristone, and subsequent actions to ease access to it, lack the legal right or standing to sue.
In all, 31 Chicagoans have been diagnosed with measles since March 4.
Edith Tovar, of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, said her organization helped approximately 130,000 people submit a claim for damages.
Supreme Court Again Confronts the Issue of Abortion, This Time Over Access to Widely Used Medication
Two years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, abortion opponents on Tuesday will ask the high court to ratify a ruling from a conservative federal appeals court that would limit access to the medication mifepristone.
Beginning in October 2020, LaSalle Veterans Home experienced a COVID-19 outbreak that sickened nearly 200 people. A whopping 85% of residents and 35% of staff tested positive for the virus, which eventually killed three dozen residents.
Allergy season is here — and it’s earlier and stronger than expected. The level of misery people will face depends on where they live and what they’re allergic to, but there are things you can do to feel better.
Mayor Brandon Johnson nominated Marlene Hopkins to permanently replace former Buildings Commissioner Matthew Beaudet, whom Johnson fired last month. Hopkins’ nomination must be confirmed by the Chicago City Council.
About 5,000 Illinoisans live with sickle cell disease, a gene defect most common in Black people that causes red blood cells to be misshapen and die off early, resulting in chronic fatigue and pain.
Researchers found about 75% of residential city blocks in Chicago had lead-contaminated water. And more than two-thirds children under the age of 6 in Chicago live on these blocks and may be exposed to lead-contaminated water.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health alert to doctors on Monday to increase awareness of the international spread of measles, and urged them to vaccinate infants a few months ahead of the typical schedule if families are planning to go abroad.
For years, researchers say there was very little advancement in the field. But in recent decades, prosthetic limbs have come a long way. And at the multidisciplinary Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in downtown Chicago, the next generation of bionic prosthetics are being developed.
An independent report identified Illinois’ Stateville and Logan prisons as outdated and in need of costly repairs.
A rule finalized Thursday will reduce ethylene oxide emissions by about 90% by targeting nearly 90 commercial sterilization facilities across the country, the EPA said.
While researchers haven’t yet pinpointed the cause for the decreasing age, they caution it indicates a need for awareness from both patients and responders.
According to the Illinois Prescription Monitoring Program, both the number of opioid prescriptions written and the number of patients served dropped by almost half since 2015.