ABC Health

West Coast states issue joint vaccine guidelines in shift away from CDC

Thursday, September 18 by ABC News

(NEW YORK) -- Four Western U.S. states have come together to issue unified vaccine recommendations for the upcoming respiratory illness season, and California has enacted a new law to base the state's immunization guidance on independent medical organizations, rather than the U.S. Centers for... Read More.

CDC finds 4% drop in US death rate in 2024. Experts say decline may be due to COVID

Wednesday, September 10 by ABC News

(NEW YORK) -- The United States death rate decreased by 3.8% in 2024 as COVID fell out of the top 10 leading causes of death for the first time in four years, new provisional federal data shows.The overall rate declined from 750.5 per 100,000... Read More.

Florida pediatrician warns vaccine mandate removal could harm vulnerable residents

Friday, September 5 by ABC News

(FLORIDA) -- A top Florida pediatrician warned Thursday that the state's plan to eliminate all vaccine mandates could lead to outbreaks of preventable diseases and put vulnerable populations at risk.Dr. Lisa Gwynn, a former president of the American Academy of Pediatrics' Florida chapter, told ABC... Read More.

Using your phone on the toilet raises your risk of hemorrhoids, study suggests

Thursday, September 4 by ABC News

(NEW YORK) -- People who use their smartphones while sitting on the toilet face are at higher risk for painful, itchy hemorrhoids, according to new research published in the journal PLOS One.Researchers investigated the bathroom habits of 125 adults undergoing screening colonoscopies at Beth... Read More.

More than 1,000 current, former HHS employees sign letter calling on RFK Jr. to resign

Wednesday, September 3 by ABC News

(WASHINGTON) -- More than 1,000 current and former employees across the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) signed a letter on Wednesday morning calling for Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s resignation.Addressed to Kennedy and members of Congress, the signatories accused the secretary of... Read More.

Florida surgeon general says state is moving to ‘end all vaccine mandates’

Wednesday, September 3 by ABC News

(TALLAHASSEE, Fla.) -- Florida is moving to "end all vaccine mandates" in the state, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo announced at a press conference on Wednesday.Ladapo said the Florida Department of Health would be working with Gov. Ron DeSantis' office to end all mandates... Read More.

Former CDC directors say RFK Jr. is endangering Americans’ health

Tuesday, September 2 by ABC News

(WASHINGTON) -- Dr. Richard Besser explains why he and other former directors of the CDC wrote an op-ed criticizing Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s handling of the CDC and public health.Nine former directors of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are... Read More.

Doctors may need to rethink decades of routine beta blocker use for some patients after a heart attack, studies suggest

Sunday, August 31 by ABC News

(NEW YORK) -- A large new study conducted in Spain and Italy found that beta blockers, drugs often used to slow the heart rate and lower blood pressure, did not provide clear benefits for heart attack patients whose hearts were still functioning well.The results... Read More.

FDA expands warning of radioactive shrimp as 2 more brands are recalled

Saturday, August 30 by ABC News

(WASHINGTON) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expanding its warning about radioactive shrimp, recalling more brands due to possible contamination.The federal health agency said earlier this week nearly 18,000 bags of frozen Kroger Mercado Cooked Medium Peeled Tail-Off Shrimp and 26,460 packages of Read More.

COVID cases, hospitalizations ticking up in the US but remain lower than last year