A federal judge has declined to temporarily block a Kentucky law that bans gender-affirming health care access for transgender people who are incarcerated in the commonwealth.

Maddilyn Marcum, a trans woman currently imprisoned at Northpoint Training Center in Boyle County, filed a lawsuit in federal court in July arguing that the Department of...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Karen Smith was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1990. The competitive skier recalled the doctor coming in and telling her she might not be able to walk anymore.

“I said to him, ‘Well, how am I going to ski?’” Smith said. “He said, ‘I just told you you might not walk, did you hear that?’ I said, ‘I did, ...Read more

Any evidence of lice was once a reason for immediate dismissal from school, not to return until the student’s head was lice-free. But what are known as “no-nit” policies have been dropped in favor of “nonexclusion” rules, prioritizing class time over any nuisance caused by parasites the size of sesame seeds. That leniency, of late, is ...Read more

Many people don't realize how serious influenza (flu) illness can be, even for previously healthy kids and teens. Children also play a role in spreading the flu in their homes, schools and communities.

The 2024-25 flu season was more severe than usual. A record number of U.S. children were hospitalized with the flu, and more than 260 died. As a...Read more

Republicans insist that President Donald Trump’s cuts to Medicaid were aimed at reducing fraud and getting more of its adult beneficiaries into jobs. But the side effects may include less care for sick kids.

Some children’s hospitals collectively stand to lose billions of dollars in revenue once Trump’s wide-ranging tax and spending law, ...Read more

“Everybody can get” the COVID-19 vaccine.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Sept. 4 in a Senate Finance Committee hearing

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When health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified before the Senate Finance Committee on Sept. 4, several senators criticized him for restricting the COVID-19 shots after promising in November he wouldn’t “take ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — As Florida seeks to end vaccine mandates, a behind-the-scenes debate in the medical community has been thrust into the public spotlight: Should doctors see young patients whose parents do not want them to get shots?

The decision has long rested with physicians, who say they weigh the needs of children who have no control over ...Read more

DENVER — Anyone 6 months and older who wants a COVID-19 shot in Colorado can now get one, but the vaccine will only be free for those with the right insurance — at least for now.

Initially, pharmacies couldn’t administer the updated shots in Colorado unless a patient had a prescription. The state allows pharmacists to administer vaccines ...Read more

BOWMAN, N.D. — Retta Jacobi stepped onto a metal platform that lifted her to an entrance on the side of a custom-designed semitrailer. Once inside, she lay down on a platform that technicians slid into an MRI machine. Jacobi hoped the scan would help pinpoint the source of the pain in her shoulders.

The mobile MRI unit visits Southwest ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The fatal stabbing of a Ukrainian refugee on Charlotte’s light rail has rekindled conversations about the failures of America’s criminal justice system.

But some Charlotte advocates say an important component is being left out of the conversation: mental health.

Fonda Bryant, a Charlotte area mental health advocate, said...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — As fall approaches, it’s time to start preparing for the start of flu season as well.

Influenza can spread any time of year, but typically increases in fall and winter in the U.S., according to the California Department of Public Health.

And COVID-19 cases — as well as the new variant — are once again on the rise ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- The first time the seemingly healthy woman gave birth, she went into heart failure. She recovered and went on to deliver her second child a few years later. Doctors cleared the woman to go home with her newborn.

But within months, the woman in her early 20s was rushed back to the hospital, again in heart failure, and ultimately ...Read more

HELENA, Mont. — In 2023, a group of 16 young Montanans won a much-heralded climate change case that said the state had deprived them of a “clean and healthful environment,” a right enshrined in Montana’s constitution.

Their victory in Held v. Montana , later upheld by the state Supreme Court, resounded across the country, showing that ...Read more

Major changes are coming to health insurance in Colorado over the next two years, but members of the state’s delegation in Congress are pitching bills that would dampen the impacts of those disruptions to health care.

H.R. 1, known as the “Big Beautiful Bill,” will reduce the number of people covered by Medicaid by adding work ...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. -- With limited treatment options for stroke patients available, two UConn researchers are developing an experimental drug that is capable of protecting the brain and improving recovery after a cerebral vascular accident also known as a brain attack.

Rajkumar Verma, assistant professor at UConn Health who leads a research ...Read more

Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo shocked America’s medical establishment last week when they said they would try to remove requirements that kids get vaccinated to attend school.

They said it is a matter of medical ethics — a philosophical belief that the government shouldn’t require people to put things in ...Read more

BALTIMORE — With the cold and flu season approaching, Maryland health officials issued guidance Wednesday on who may receive COVID-19 vaccines and whether insurance will cover the shots — a shifting landscape a top regulator described as “confusing.”

“I very much appreciate that it’s confusing,” Maryland Insurance Commissioner ...Read more