Health Care
Religious employers can exclude HIV preventative drugs in their health plans, federal judge rules
AUSTIN, Texas – A federal judge in Fort Worth agreed Wednesday with a group of Christian conservatives that Affordable Care Act requirements to cover HIV prevention drugs violate their religious freedom. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor also agreed that aspects of the federal government’s system for deciding what preventive care is covered by the ACA […]
Some abortion bans put patients, doctors at risk in emergencies
Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, emergency health care providers in states that ban abortion have had to make wrenching legal and ethical judgments before treating a pregnant woman whose health or life may be in peril. “It’s happening every single day,” said Dr. Jen Villavicencio, lead for equity transformation at […]
CDC endorses updated COVID-19 vaccine boosters for this fall
WASHINGTON — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention late Thursday signed off on the approval from the agency’s independent vaccine advisers that recommended an updated coronavirus vaccine booster this fall. The CDC recommended boosters from Pfizer-BioNTech for those who are 12 years old and older and from Moderna for those who are 18 and […]
Louisiana expands eligibility for monkeypox vaccine
The Louisiana Department of Health on Wednesday expanded the list of people who are eligible to receive the monkeypox vaccine after the state received 6,000 additional doses from the federal government. Health care providers are now allowed to give the vaccine to any person who they deem high risk. Initially, the vaccine was mostly limited […]
LSU clinic transitions to OLOL management; what about reproductive health?
Our Lady of the Lake will assume management of the LSU Student Health Center in January prompting questions as to what – if any – changes will result when a Catholic health organization takes over a public university medical clinic. The move comes as part of the partnership between Our Lady of the Lake (OLOL) […]
In Louisiana, health inequities raise risks for Black community
Too many African Americans contract serious diseases and die much earlier than white Americans from preventable and treatable diseases due to a lack of information, access to and the affordability of quality health care. This is heath inequity. This is economically damaging for Louisiana, morally wrong, and something we can reverse if we act now. […]
Louisiana receives thousands of monkeypox doses ahead of Southern Decadence
Louisiana has received thousands of additional doses of monkeypox vaccine in anticipation of Southern Decadence in New Orleans, one of the largest gatherings of gay and bisexual men in the country. The Biden administration has started targeting LGBTQ+ festivals across the nation with supplemental monkeypox vaccine and testing resources. Southern Decadence is expected to attract […]
Louisiana’s abortion law, maternal mortality rate a double burden to sexual assault survivors
Maternal mortality – pregnancy-related death – refers to the death of a pregnant person during pregnancy, labor, or shortly after delivery. Aside from the United States, every other country in the G7 – France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan, and England – has had a steady decline in the number of maternal deaths since 1990. Even […]
What monkeypox outbreak? Little planning by colleges as students resume classes
WASHINGTON — College students are heading back to campus following more than two years of a pandemic that led many schools to empty out for full semesters and later move to hybrid schedules in a struggle to curb the spread of COVID-19. But the attempt by colleges and universities to return to something resembling normal […]
For medically vulnerable families, inflation’s squeeze is inescapable
ROSAMOND, Calif. — Deborah Lewis rose from bed before dawn and signed in to her phone so she could begin delivering fast food, coffee, and groceries to residents in this western patch of the Mojave Desert where test pilot Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier generations ago. Lewis prayed she would earn $75, just enough […]
Can adoption replace abortion? Experts say it’s a lot more complicated than it sounds
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune. For 24/7 mental health support in English or Spanish, call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s free help line at 800-662-4357. You can also reach a trained crisis counselor through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by calling or texting 988, or you can reach the […]
Officials find problems with several more Louisiana nursing home evacuation sites
Hundreds of nursing home residents in southeast Louisiana may be still at risk for evacuating to inadequate or unsafe shelters through the end of this hurricane season, according to limited data the health department provided.