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Shots - Health News

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About two months after undergoing open-heart surgery, Sara England's infant son, Amari Vaca, was sick and struggling to breathe. Staff members at a local medical center in Salinas, California, arranged for him to be transferred to a different hospital via air ambulance. Kevin Painchaud/Kevin Painchaud hide caption

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Kevin Painchaud/Kevin Painchaud

A mom's $97,000 question: How was an air-ambulance ride not medically necessary?

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Composting vessels arranged in a honeycomb array at the Recompose human composting facility in Seattle, WA. Recompose hide caption

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Recompose

The ultimate green burial? Human composting lets you replenish the earth after death

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Surgeons perform the first transplant of a genetically modified pig kidney into a living human at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Michelle Rose/Massachusetts General Hospital hide caption

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Michelle Rose/Massachusetts General Hospital

First human transplant of a genetically modified pig kidney performed

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Melissa Wyaco supervises about two dozen public health nurses who search for patients across the Navajo Nation who have tested positive for or have been exposed to syphilis. Navajo Area Indian Health Services hide caption

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Navajo Area Indian Health Services

The packaging on Kool brand's "non-menthol" cigarettes and its existing menthols are very similar. Anti-smoking activists argue this is a way to get around any ban on menthol cigarettes by appealing to consumers who like to smoke menthols. Stanford Medicine hide caption

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Stanford Medicine

With a federal menthol ban looming, tobacco companies push 'non-menthol' substitutes

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The U.S. ranks higher in the world happiness report when it comes to people aged 60 and older. Thomas Barwick/Getty Images hide caption

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Thomas Barwick/Getty Images

U.S. drops in new global happiness ranking. One age group bucks the trend

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Pfizer's Paxlovid combines two antiviral drugs to fight the virus that causes COVID-19. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption

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Joe Raedle/Getty Images

In a pandemic milestone, the NIH ends guidance on COVID treatment

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Under Louisiana's abortion ban, doctors face penalties of up to 15 years in prison, $200,000 in fines and loss of their medical license. Dr. Neelima Sukhavasi, a Baton Rouge OB-GYN, says that doctors are scared. Here, Dr. Sukhavasi poses for a portrait in Baton Rouge, La., on Monday, March 18, 2024. Christiana Botic hide caption

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Christiana Botic

Standard pregnancy care is now dangerously disrupted in Louisiana, report reveals

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The share of abortions that are performed with medication alone (a combination of mifepristone and misoprosotol) increased between 2020 and 2023. Rachel Woolf/The Washington Post via Getty Images hide caption

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Rachel Woolf/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Despite bans in some states, more than a million abortions were provided in 2023

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Workers at the U.S. Embassy in Havana leave the building in September 2017. New research out of the National Institutes of Health finds no unusual pattern of damage in the brains of Havana syndrome patients. Emily Michot/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images hide caption

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Emily Michot/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Ultra-processed foods contain substances you wouldn't find in your own kitchen, like high-fructose corn syrup, artificial flavor and color enhancers, anti-caking agents and emulsifiers. Dan Kitwood/Getty Images hide caption

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Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

From anxiety to cancer, the evidence against ultra-processed food piles up

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A woman watches an annular solar eclipse on October 14, 2023 using special solar filter glasses at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Carlos Tischler/ Eyepix Group/Future Publishing via Getty Images hide caption

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Carlos Tischler/ Eyepix Group/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Watching a solar eclipse without the right filters can cause eye damage. Here's why

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Sandra Johnson was responding well to an injectable drug to treat her persistent asthma, but then her insurance company stopped allowing her to get it in a process called "prior authorization." Kimberly Paynter/WHYY hide caption

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Kimberly Paynter/WHYY

Her insurer stopped approving her medicine that worked. Will a new state law help?

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People who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid face maddening challenges accessing health care. The government spends $500 billion on this care, yet patients often can't get what they need. amtitus/Getty Images hide caption

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Edible products advertised as containing delta-8 THC offered for sale at a smoke shop in Seattle in 2022. Teens can overdo it with products like these, health officials warn. Gene Johnson/AP hide caption

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Gene Johnson/AP

If the FDA approves it, a new blood test could become another screening option for colorectal cancer. Srinophan69/Getty Images hide caption

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Srinophan69/Getty Images
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