Health
Universal flu vaccine based on mRNA tech to be tested by National Institutes of Health
A woman receives a booster dose of the Moderna coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at a vaccination centre in Antwerp, Belgium, February 1, 2022. Johanna Geron | Reuters Patients are now enrolling in an early stage clinical trial to test a universal flu vaccine based on messenger RNA technology, the National Institutes of Health announced Monday. […]
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Biden to nominate cancer surgeon Monica Bertagnolli to lead National Institutes of Health
Dr. Monica Bertagnolli speaks during a visit from first lady Jill Biden to the University of California San Francisco Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center in San Francisco, Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. Jeff Chiu | AP President Joe Biden will nominate Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, a cancer surgeon, to lead the National Institutes of Health, the […]
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Americans in most states will no longer receive Covid exposure notifications on phones
Americans in most states will no longer receive Covid exposure notifications on their smartphones now that the U.S. public health emergency has ended. Since 2020, nearly 30 states have used a Bluetooth system developed by Apple and Google to track the spread of Covid infections and send push alerts to any smartphone user who came […]
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Here’s why Covid vaccines will still be free for uninsured Americans as public health emergency ends
A healthcare worker prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination clinic in the Peabody Institute Library in Peabody, Massachusetts, on Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022. Vanessa Leroy | Bloomberg | Getty Images Uninsured Americans can still access Covid-19 vaccines at no cost, for now, even though the U.S. public health emergency has […]
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Pfizer CEO says Medicare will likely face legal action over drug price negotiations
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla talks during a press conference with European Commission President after a visit to oversee the production of the Pfizer-BioNtech Covid-19 vaccine at the factory of US pharmaceutical company Pfizer, in Puurs, on April 23, 2021. John Thys | AFP | Getty Images Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla on Thursday said pharmaceutical companies […]
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More gay and bisexual men can donate blood under new FDA rules
Empty blood vials sit on a table at Vitalant blood donation center on January 11, 2022 in San Francisco, California. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday that it finalized a new rule that will allow more gay and bisexual men to donate blood. Under the latest guidelines, all potential donors would […]
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U.S. Covid public health emergency ends, leaving behind a battered health system
A sign outside of a hospital advertises COVID-19 testing on November 19, 2021 in New York City. Spencer Platt | Getty Images The U.S. public health emergency declared in response to Covid-19 comes to an end Thursday more than three years after the pandemic began. The Biden administration’s decision to end the emergency comes as […]
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The human genome scientists use to scout for disease just got a major makeover
Andrew Brookes | Image Source | Getty Images Scientists have been using the same human genome sequence to study genomics for more than 20 years, but on Wednesday it got a major makeover. Researchers published a new, more inclusive collection of reference human genome sequences in a landmark development that greatly expands on that original […]
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Eli Lilly CEO vows not to raise insulin prices again, while Novo Nordisk and Sanofi hedge
Eli Lilly CEO Dave Ricks on Wednesday promised not to raise prices on the company’s existing insulin products again — the only executive to do so before a Senate Health Committee hearing on making the life-saving diabetes drug more affordable. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the committee’s chair, asked Ricks and the CEOs of Novo Nordisk and […]
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FDA advisors recommend sale of birth control pill without a prescription
Opill Oral Contraception Source: Perrigo A panel of experts who advise the Food and Drug Administration unanimously recommended Wednesday that the agency for the first time allow women to obtain a birth control pill without a prescription. The panel had been asked whether the benefits of selling HRA Pharma’s birth control pill Opill outweighed the […]
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