Not all the scares and frights and bumps in the night are imaginary on Halloween. Each year, thousands of people land in the emergency room due to Halloween-related injuries. One of the biggest culprits may come as a surprise: It's pumpkin carving, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Measles outbreaks have spread across the U.S. to reach 41 states. The largest ongoing cluster in Utah and Arizona has now grown into the second-biggest outbreak of the year. Utah reported a total of 58 infections Thursday, bringing the tally for Utah and Arizona to 142 so far this year. The Arizona Department of Health has reported 84 cases and three hospitalizations. A total of 1,618 infections have been reported nationwide by the CDC this year, the largest outbreak in three decades.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s tenure as health secretary is straining Republicans' relationship with the medical establishment to what's looking like a breaking point. Doctors and their professional associations, such as the American Medical Association and American Academy of Pediatrics, have clashed with the GOP over health policy changes, but Kennedy has given them a leftward shove by deriding them as pharma flunkeys and progressive ideologues. In recent months, Kennedy has sparred with the groups over vaccine guidance, transgender care, the handling of the pandemic and whether pregnant women are putting their children at risk of autism if they take Tylenol.
Columbia Memorial Health could significantly cut the number of hospital beds at its main health care facility in Hudson if an application to the federal government is accepted. Columbia Memorial CEO Dorothy Urschel said the hospital would no longer have an ICU if its application to become a 'critical care hospital' goes through. She also rebuffed rumors that the hospital would be closing and said there would be 'no reduction in workforce,' through employees might shift to other Columbia Memorial Health facilities or to other facilities in the Albany Med system.
One of the Dayton area's largest hospitals will soon no longer offer obstetric services. OB services at Soin Medical Center will transition to Kettering Main Campus and Kettering Health Washington Township, Kettering Health confirmed. The hospital network cited declining birth rates in the area and across the country as a factor in the decision.