A pair of recent studies has found that the shingles vaccine may protect against more than just shingles—it may reduce the risk of dementia and heart issues, too. One study, published in JAMA on April 23, found that older Australians who were eligible for a free live-attenuated shingles vaccine (called Zostavax) had a 1.8% lower…
Many plastic dishes and storage containers are marked “microwave safe,” but a recently filed class action lawsuit raises questions about such claims. Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that S.C. Johnson, the company that makes Ziploc products, has misled consumers about the safety of certain Ziploc bags and containers by failing to adequately warn them that these…
The majority of Americans may be ineligible for a COVID booster shot this year, according to new guidelines from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In an article published Tuesday in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), Vinay Prasad, the FDA’s vaccine division chief, and Martin Makery, the agency’s commissioner, said the FDA is…
The common cold and COVID-19 are viral illnesses with similar symptoms. Colds are upper respiratory infections that may cause mild symptoms like sneezing, nasal congestion, sore throat, and a low fever, with most people recovering in about a week. COVID is a viral infection that may cause cold-like symptoms but also affects other parts of…
Dr. Michael H. Stone, a psychiatrist and scholar who sought to define evil and to differentiate its manifestations from the typical behavior of people who are mentally ill, died on Dec. 6 at his home in Manhattan. He was 90. The cause was complications of a stroke he had in January, his son David said….
Law enforcement agencies have obtained the prescription records of thousands of Americans from the country’s largest pharmacy chains without a warrant, a congressional inquiry found, raising concerns about how the companies handle patient privacy. Three of the largest pharmacy groups — CVS Health, Kroger and Rite Aid — do not require their staff members to…
The Supreme Court announced on Wednesday that it would decide on the availability of a commonly used abortion pill, the first major case involving abortion on its docket since it overturned the constitutional right to the procedure more than a year ago. The Biden administration had asked the justices to intervene after a three-judge panel…
Neanderthals were morning people, a new study suggests. And some humans today who like getting up early might credit genes they inherited from their Neanderthal ancestors. The new study compared DNA in living humans with genetic material retrieved from Neanderthal fossils. It turns out that Neanderthals carried some of the same clock-related genetic variants as…
