Dee Lee

An order by Pennsylvania’s acting health secretary that requires masks inside K-12 schools and child care facilities was thrown out Wednesday by a state court that said she lacked the authority. The Wolf administration said lawyers were directed to file an immediate appeal. Commonwealth Court sided 4-1 with the ranking Republican in the state Senate and others who sued to challenge the masking order that took effect in early September as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s spokesperson said Health Department lawyers were directed to file an appeal to the state Supreme Court on Wednesday, a move his administration said would effectively put the new decision on hold. Kamil Esteves, 6, and Laynette Padilla, 6, make thank you cards to be sent to healthcare workers. Recently, a Pennsylvania court tossed out a mask mandate for schools.  (Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images) VERMONT STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES TANK COMPARED TO PRE-CO...

NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! The American Medical Association recently released a guide on “Advancing Health Equity” that promotes how to fight for critical race theory, includes a list of words not to say and their “equity-focused alternatives,” and criticizes concepts like “meritocracy,” “individualism” and the “‘free’ market.” The 55-page document released on Oct. 28 cites a guide by the organization Race Forward for how to advocate for critical race theory (CRT), which is called “Guide to Counter-Narrating the Attacks on Critical Race Theory.” The health equity guide argues physicians cannot eliminate “health inequities” by “focus[ing] only on individuals, their behavior or their biology.” It says they instead must focus on language and collective political circumstances of certain groups.  “Given the deep divides that exist between groups in the United States, understanding and empathy can be extremely challenging for many because of an inabilit...

Sometimes, the joy of hockey is overshadowed by the anguish that can take place in the real world. Sometimes, the competitive bubble of sport is blown apart by the unpredictable and the indefensible.  And sadly, we saw an example this week of the fragility of life, when the bet-at-home ICE Hockey League suffered a double-blow in ways they could never have imagined. The first blow came on Nov. 3, when Slovakian forward Boris Sadecky collapsed on the ice during an Austrian League game and subsequently passed away. Sadecky is believed to have died of a heart attack, but nothing has been confirmed, and the team he played for – the Bratislava Capitals – is keeping quiet by and large.  All we know is a 24-year-old talented athlete was suddenly taken from us, and the game of hockey and everyone Sadecky encountered is now poorer for not having him around any longer. Unfortunately, Sadecky’s untimely passing was followed only two days later by Capitals GM Dusan Pase...

The recent news on Covid in Georgia appears quite good – cases, hospitalizations and deaths have all dropped to a low plateau, state health officials said Tuesday. But the number of vaccinations has also shown a recent decline, with the rate of Georgia residents fully vaccinated now hovering at about 50 percent. During October, vaccinations dropped 30 percent to 40 percent. That could change since recent approval of the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 5 to 11. Yet Cherie Drenzek, the state epidemiologist, told the Georgia Department of Public Health’s board that she remains cautious about what lies ahead. “This virus does nothing but surprise us,’’ she said. Nearly all the recent hospitalizations and deaths have occurred in unvaccinated individuals, she said. The virus is surging in some states in the West, and also in Europe, Drenzek said. California, New Mexico and Colorado, along with some Northern states, have seen case numbers rise over the past two weeks, according to dat...

Left to right: Filipino American health care workers Karen Cantor, Karen Shoker, and John Paul Atienza were among many who cared for COVID patients in the early days of the pandemic. Rosem Morton hide caption toggle caption Rosem Morton Left to right: Filipino American health care workers Karen Cantor, Karen Shoker, and John Paul Atienza were among many who cared for COVID patients in the early days of the pandemic. Rosem Morton In the spring of 2020 Glenn Magpili, 42, got sick with COVID. The first wave of the pandemic had flooded New York area hospitals and Magpili, an emergency room nurse in Manhattan, fell ill in the same hospital where he’d been caring for patients sick with the coronavirus. Then, he was intubated. “When I woke up, I thought I was just asleep for a couple of days,” he recalls. “They told me it was almost four weeks.” Magpili recovered but counts himself “one of the lucky ones. There were so many Filipino nurses who got sick,” he says. I wo...

Virtual care company Teladoc Health is partnering with Trustmark Health Benefits to offer a virtual-first insurance plan. The health plan, called myVirtualCare Access, is built around Teladoc’s primary care offering, Primary360, which was made available for payers early last month.  Members will pay $0 co-pays for virtual services and preferential cost sharing for in-person services that are referred by Primary360 providers. The virtual-first plan will be available to employers nationwide beginning next year. “We believe that virtual-first benefit designs represent the convergence of employer and consumer demand and are the next step in unlocking the true power of whole-person virtual care. “We are excited to power Aon and Trustmark’s innovative modern benefit design and look forward to the impact we will have on both member health and the overall cost of care,” Kelly Bliss, Teladoc Health’s president for U.S. Group Health, said in a statement. “This offering will be com...

Valera Health announced a $15 million funding round last week for its telehealth platform focused on patients with acute mental health conditions.  The latest infusion of cash was led by Windham Venture Partners with participation from Aquiline Technology Growth, MultiCare Health System, Divergent Investments, Watershed, GreyMatter Capital and Gaingels. This new funding round brings the New York-based company’s total funding to over $26 million, according to Crunchbase .  WHAT IT DOES Valera’s team has developed a virtual mental health platform catered to individuals with serious mental illness and severe depression. Patients are able to use the service to get personalized treatment and have a place to coordinate their care. The company matches patients to a health coach, who is able to help patients find a therapist or doctor who meets their needs. A patient is then able to sit down with their care team to create a treatment plan and goals. The company works with...

Valera Health announced a $15 million funding round last week for its telehealth platform focused on patients with acute mental health conditions.  The latest infusion of cash was led by Windham Venture Partners with participation from Aquiline Technology Growth, MultiCare Health System, Divergent Investments, Watershed, GreyMatter Capital and Gaingels. This new funding round brings the New York-based company’s total funding to over $26 million, according to Crunchbase .  WHAT IT DOES Valera’s team has developed a virtual mental health platform catered to individuals with serious mental illness and severe depression. Patients are able to use the service to get personalized treatment and have a place to coordinate their care. The company matches patients to a health coach, who is able to help patients find a therapist or doctor who meets their needs. A patient is then able to sit down with their care team to create a treatment plan and goals. The company works with...

Amyloid plaques are characteristic features of Alzheimer’s disease. The new drug Aduhelm is able to remove this sticky substance that builds up in the brains of patients with the disease, but many doctors are still skeptical of how well it really works. Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Libra via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Libra via Getty Images Amyloid plaques are characteristic features of Alzheimer’s disease. The new drug Aduhelm is able to remove this sticky substance that builds up in the brains of patients with the disease, but many doctors are still skeptical of how well it really works. Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Libra via Getty Images The new Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm isn’t reaching many patients. And doctors say reasons include its high cost, insurers’ reluctance to cover it, and lingering questions about whether it actually slows memory loss. “The pendulum of public opinion has swayed strongly against this drug,” says ...

Gogglebox star Shaun Malone has “owned” his mental health “struggles” after someone made a “dig” at him. The TV personality, who appears in the popular Channel 4 entertainment show, shared a message to his followers on Instagram Stories , in which he said he has “never been open” about the subject. “I’ve realised that all the time I’m saying about men and their mental health and we should be open,” he wrote. “But I’ve realised that I’ve been quite hypocritical, because I’ve struggled with my mental health on and off over the last 10 years and I’ve never been open about it.” Malone, who became a father in July 2020, added: “I’ve always felt too embarrassed to talk about it, and yesterday I got a dig made at my mental health by somebody I know, so I thought I’ll just come out and own it.” He told his fans: “What I’m saying is like, fellas, we’re all in this together. Loads of us struggle so, it is what it is.” In July, the Malone family were supported by Gogglebox viewers after r...

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers Rodgers has strongly questioned the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols, along with any organization forcing health requirements on individuals. Rick Scuteri/AP hide caption toggle caption Rick Scuteri/AP Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers Rodgers has strongly questioned the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols, along with any organization forcing health requirements on individuals. Rick Scuteri/AP GREEN BAY, Wis. — A Wisconsin health care organization has ended a nine-year partnership with Green Bay Packers star Aaron Rodgers after the quarterback detailed his reasoning for avoiding the three COVID-19 vaccinations endorsed by the NFL. A statement posted on Twitter by Prevea Health said the company and Rodgers mutually agreed to end their partnership, effective Saturday. Prevea Health and Rodgers had been partners since 2012. The statement said Prevea Health “remains deeply committed to protecting its patients, staff, providers and...

If you’re looking for your most immediate option to get a shot into your child’s arm, it looks like the only availability as soon as this weekend (Nov. 6 & 7) will be at Walgreens and CVS pharmacies or hospitals. Read the full article: 11Alive.com from WordPress https://ift.tt/3mQKlEM via IFTTT

Food banks across the country are pursuing major expansion projects driven in part by their experiences during the pandemic, when they faced an explosion of need. Read the full article: Associated Press  from WordPress https://ift.tt/2YlWlET via IFTTT

Share on Pinterest Does moderate alcohol use reduce mortality risk? Rafa Elias/Getty Images A new study contradicts previous findings that link moderate alcohol consumption to health benefits and a longer life. The researchers found that those who abstain from alcohol may have a higher mortality rate because of risky behaviors in which they engaged earlier in life. The study also shows that people who abstain from alcohol and who have no other risk factors, such as smoking or poor self-reported health, are not statistically more likely to die at an early age than those with low to moderate alcohol intake. Some recent studies have linked moderate alcohol consumption to health benefits, such as lower risk of cardiovascular disease. Other studies tout potential health benefits of drinking wine and tequila . However, results of a new study from the University of Greifswald in Germany contradict the idea of drinking alcohol to protect health. Earlier studies have shown an i...

They went into hospitals with heart attacks, kidney failure or in a psychiatric crisis. They left with covid-19 — if they left at all. More than 10,000 patients were diagnosed with covid in a U.S. hospital last year after they were admitted for something else, according to federal and state records analyzed exclusively for KHN. The number is certainly an undercount, since it includes mostly patients 65 and older, plus California and Florida patients of all ages. Yet in the scheme of things that can go wrong in a hospital, it is catastrophic: About 21% of the patients who contracted covid in the hospital from April to September last year died, the data shows. In contrast, nearly 8% of other Medicare patients died in the hospital at the time. Steven Johnson, 66, was expecting to get an infection cut out of his hip at Blake Medical Center in Bradenton, Florida, in November 2020. His wife, Cindy Johnson, says he had tested negative for covid-19 two days before he was admitted. Afte...