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MIAMI — Manatee could become the second county in Florida to ban kratom and other designer drugs.

Sarasota County approved a ban in 2014. While kratom was already restricted to adults over 21, an emergency statewide order last month banned one of the chemical compounds found in kratom.

Last Tuesday, Manatee Commissioner Amanda Ballard ...Read more

LOS ANGELES – The coronavirus has muscled its way back into headlines in recent weeks amid a summer wave of the illness and growing difficulties in getting the vaccine, as well as efforts by the Trump administration that could make getting inoculated harder for some people.

The summer increase is decidedly smaller than what California and ...Read more

Amy Frank said it took 17 hours on the phone over nearly three weeks, bouncing between her insurer and her local hospital system, to make sure her plan would cover her husband’s post-surgery care.

Many of her calls never got past the hold music. When they did, the hospital told her to call her insurer. The insurer told her to have the ...Read more

After losing 50 pounds on the injectable weight loss medication Zepbound, Kyra Wensley received a surprising letter from her pharmacy benefit manager in April.

Her request for coverage had been denied, the letter said, because she’d had a body mass index of less than 35 when she started Zepbound. The 25-year-old who lives in New York had been...Read more

It was March 2020, and Robert Gordon was about to kick some 80,000 people off health insurance.

As the Michigan state health director, he had spent the past year, and some $30 million in state tax dollars, trying to avoid that very thing.

Gordon was a Democrat, a veteran of the Obama administration, and he did not want people to lose the ...Read more

A cup of coffee or tea in the morning or an afternoon caffeine pick-me-up is usually fine for most adults. But parents might want to take a closer look at caffeine and other ingredients in the drinks their kids love.

Many popular beverages that kids go to for quick energy have a surprising amount of caffeine. Some drinks have other stimulants, ...Read more

Mayo Clinic researchers have pinpointed how excessive alcohol consumption contributes to fatty liver disease, a condition that affects more than one in three people in the U.S.

Also known as Metabolic Dysfunction Associated Steatotic Liver Disease, it is a long-lasting disease that can lead to type 2 diabetes and even liver cancer. Excessive ...Read more

Sucralose, a common artificial sweetener, may be preventing the body from responding to cancer immunotherapy, a new study out of the University of Pittsburgh finds.

The results come as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services turns its attention toward ultraprocessed foods, with efforts to ban artificial food dyes and sweeteners. The ...Read more

After the Trump administration slashed billions in state and local public health funding from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this year, the eventual impact on states split sharply along political lines.

Democratic-led states that sued to block the cuts kept much of their funding, while Republican-led states lost ...Read more

NEW YORK — Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday signed an executive order ensuring continued access to COVID-19 vaccines in New York after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took steps to limit availability of the shots.

The governor’s measure declares a health emergency and authorizes pharmacists to continue providing the vaccines to anyone who...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Every year around this time, like clockwork, Marty Lazniarz would plan to get his regular COVID-19 vaccine — essential protection before heading out on a trip.

But this year, trying to get his routine shot has been anything but.

The 70-year-old retiree from Long Beach said it has been frustratingly difficult to get a COVID ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- An aging population, still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, is seeking more treatment for dizziness and imbalance in Minnesota.

Clinics specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of dizziness have opened or expanded across the Twin Cities, and their appointments are filling up. Associated Hearing Care hired a specialist ...Read more

Karen H. who reads this column in the Albany (Oregon) Democrat-Herald, writes: “Hello Barbara, I recently saw an article about how carbohydrates in rice, pasta and potatoes change when refrigerated. I can’t find the original article but one says, ‘When rice is refrigerated, it undergoes certain changes that can impact its nutritional ...Read more

ATLANTA — Big pharmacies and public health clinics in Georgia are not yet giving this year’s COVID-19 booster shots, or are putting new restrictions in place, amid vaccine uncertainty under Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy.

Doctors hope the confusion will be resolved in a couple of weeks, when a federal ...Read more

It makes sense to approach some marketing efforts with skepticism. Scams, deepfakes, and deceptive social media posts are common, with people you don’t know seeking to profit from your behavior.

But should people extend this same skepticism to pediatricians who advise vaccines for children? Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. ...Read more