FILE - Doses of the anti-viral drug Paxlovid are displayed in New York, Aug. 1, 2022. (Stephanie Nano / AP Photo, File)

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is setting the price for a five-day treatment of Paxlovid at $1,390, but Americans can still access the pills at no cost — for now. The less commonly used COVID-19 treatment Lagevrio, manufactured by Merck, also will hit the market next week.

(WTTW News)

The death rate for breast cancer in the United States dropped 43% between 1989 and 2020, according to the American Cancer Society. Despite this hopeful news, breast cancer mortality rates still remain 40% higher for Black women than White women. 

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The state still has a long way to go toward ensuring that all Illinois residents can have a safe and healthy pregnancy, Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Sameer Vohra said in a press release.

(WTTW News)

Neighborhoods on the South and West Sides of Chicago have seen the highest amount of medical debt erased so far, according to officials.

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The Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) announced the cutoff date on Thursday, making good on a spring promise to limit membership in order to keep costs in check. Activists who want the program expanded rather than curtailed said that the move was expected but nonetheless disappointing.

Milk and Moon Lactation Counseling LLC in Spring Valley, Ill., is a milk depot and donor milk dispensary in partnership with the Mothers’ Milk Bank of the Western Great Lakes. (Courtesy of Milk and Moon Lactation Counseling)

Demand for donor breast milk has been growing as the country continues to recover from last year’s infant formula shortage that left many store shelves empty following a host of supply chain issues and product recalls.

Walgreens and other drug stores have closed thousands of stores in recent years. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid are eliminating some locations as they face rising competition for these items from Amazon, big-box stores with pharmacies like Walmart, and Dollar General in rural areas.

FILE - A prescription is filled, Friday, Jan. 6, 2023, in Morganton, N.C. A dose of patience may come in handy at the pharmacy counter this fall, as drug and staffing shortages haven’t gone away. (Chris Carlson / AP Photo, File)

Some drugstores have addressed their challenges by adding employees at busy hours. But experts say many pharmacies, particularly the big chains, still don’t have enough workers behind the counter.

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The programs are for noncitizens over age 42 who would otherwise qualify for Medicaid if not for their immigration status.

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A combination of economic factors, health access and misinformation pushed childhood vaccination figures down to dangerous levels in recent years for many illnesses, including measles, experts said.

Howard Brown Health sign. (WTTW News)

This move is part of the proposed settlement from Region 13 of the NLRB, which found merit to charges of unfair labor practices from the queer health care organization in July. Part of the charges stem from the firing of 61 unionized workers earlier this year.

(Credit: Shana Novak / Stone RF / Getty Images)

The medications treat heart disease, certain cancers, diabetes and autoimmune diseases. Some 9 million Medicare enrollees took the medications on the list and paid a total of $3.4 billion in out-of-pocket costs last year.

(Pexels / Kei Scampa)

Black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than White women, according to the Centers for Disease Control. It’s a grim reality that led advocates to start The Gathering campaign.

FILE - A patient prepares to take the first of two combination pills, mifepristone, for a medication abortion during a visit to a clinic in Kansas City, Kan., on, Oct. 12, 2022. (Charlie Riedel / AP Photo, File)
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The restrictions won’t take effect right away because the Supreme Court previously intervened to keep the drug available during the ongoing legal fight.

Students with Rush University Medical Center's Education and Career Hub program known as REACH. (WTTW News)

Black and Latino students in health care career paths recently shared their findings on past experiments during a summer internship program at Rush University Medical Center.

(agilemktg1 / Flickr)

For the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Medicaid recipients are being asked to provide proof of their eligibility.