CNN – Health

By Jen Christensen, CNN Even if US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s decision to suspend the US Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone goes through, there still will be a nonsurgical option for people to manage abortions at home. In the United States, the so-called abortion pill is actually two medications, mifepristone, sold under the

By Deidre McPhillips, CNN Worry and fear about gun violence are widespread in the United States, where most families have been affected by a gun-related incident, according to a new survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Nearly 1 in 5 adults has had a family member killed by a gun, including in homicide and suicide.

By Brenda Goodman, CNN Less than a year after the US Supreme Court ended legal protection for abortions nationwide, clinics that provide reproductive health care across the United States are bracing for more restrictions on the care they provide to women. If a judge’s ruling takes effect Friday, it may soon be illegal for doctors

By Deidre McPhillips, CNN In the six months after the Supreme Court ruling that ended the federal right to an abortion, there were about 32,000 fewer abortions than expected in the United States, according to a new analysis. There were about 5,000 fewer legal abortions each month, on average, than there were in the months

By Madeline Holcombe, CNN Treating hearing loss could mean reducing the risk for dementia, according to a new study. Hearing loss may increase the risk for dementia, but using hearing aids lowered the risk so it’s similar to those without hearing loss, according to the study published Thursday in The Lancet. Researchers followed more than

By Katherine Dillinger, CNN Advisers to the World Health Organization will consider next month whether to add liraglutide, the active ingredient in certain diabetes and obesity medications, to its list of essential medicines. The list, which is updated every two years, includes medicines “that satisfy the priority health needs of the population,” WHO says. “They

By Carma Hassan, CNN Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin said Wednesday that when he played football as a child, he never thought about CPR or where there might be an automated external defibrillator (AED) nearby. At an event on Capitol Hill, the NFL player shared facts he learned after he went into cardiac arrest and

By Nadia Kounang, Jen Christensen and Deidre McPhillips, CNN With drug overdose deaths continuing to hover near record levels, the US Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved for the first time an over-the-counter version of the opioid overdose antidote Narcan. “The FDA remains committed to addressing the evolving complexities of the overdose crisis. As

By Brenda Goodman, CNN Almost two months after a train carrying hazardous materials derailed in the town of East Palestine, Ohio, the state Department of Health is preparing to offer blood and urine testing and physical exams to first responders who rushed to fight the blaze. The testing is set to start within the next

By Jen Christensen, CNN Everyone benefits when there is less air pollution, but it pays off more for older communities with high poverty rates and those where larger populations of Black people live, regardless of income, a new study finds. The study, published Friday in the New England Journal of Medicine, looked at the connection

By Brenda Goodman, CNN Many of the first responders who helped fight the fire that erupted after the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, last month were ill-equipped and untrained to fight the massive chemical blaze that some now call “the hell fire.” In testimony Wednesday before the US Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee,

By Katia Hetter, CNN The United States is facing a crisis of overdose deaths. In 2021, more than 106,000 Americans lost their lives to drug-involved overdoses — including more than 1,100 teens that year alone. Synthetic opioids, primarily involving the powerful drug fentanyl, are the main driver of overdose deaths, with nearly a 7.5-fold increase

By Jamie Gumbrecht, CNN The US government announced a plan Wednesday to overhaul the country’s organ transplant system. The US Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration said it will focus on accountability and transparency by seeking more contracts to operate the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network and sharing data more

By Jacqueline Howard, CNN The risks of severe complications during pregnancy, childbirth or postpartum can vary drastically depending on where the person lives, a new study suggests. Among people with Medicaid insurance in the United States, rates of severe maternal morbidity — life-threatening complications during pregnancy, delivery or after childbirth — range dramatically from about

By Sandee LaMotte, CNN Potentially toxic chemicals found in everyday products, including fast-food wrappers, makeup and carpeting, are altering hormonal and metabolic pathways needed for human growth and development, according to a new study. Researchers analyzed study samples from young children, teens and young adults, all of whom had a mixture of different synthetic compounds

By Andrea Kane, CNN Is the internet — and all that goes along with it: the screens, the technology, the apps — good or bad? That’s been the question churning in the undercurrent of this season of CNN’s Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta. The podcast has been examining the effects of screens on our

By Janelle Chavez, CNN Newly updated US Food and Drug Administration regulations will require mammography facilities to notify patients about the density of their breasts. Women with dense breasts are at higher risk for breast cancer, and dense tissue can make cancer harder to detect in mammograms. Still, few women recognize dense breasts as a

By Jacqueline Howard, CNN The White House has declared that the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl combined with xylazine — an animal tranquilizer that’s increasingly being used in illicit drugs — is an “emerging threat” facing the United States due to its role in the ongoing opioid crisis. Administration officials call the threat FAAX, for fentanyl-adulterated

By Jacqueline Howard and Janelle Chavez, CNN One of the four Americans who were kidnapped in Mexico last week was traveling for medical tourism, a friend said. A growing number of US residents are traveling internationally to seek more affordable medical care, more timely care or access to certain treatments or procedures that are unapproved