Breast cancer death rates have fallen as treatment continues to improve. But breast cancer is still the second-most common cause of cancer death for U.S. women. About 240,000 cases are diagnosed annually and nearly 43,000 women die from breast cancer.

State legislators would need to vote by May 5 to place a question on the November ballot, and key players indicate there’s no effort to do so despite earlier talk at state government’s highest levels after Roe v. Wade was dismantled by the U.S. Supreme Court almost two years ago.

Immigrant rights advocates on Friday continued to push for one of their top budget priorities: full funding for state-run health care programs that benefit noncitizens, regardless of their immigration status.

There were about 3.6 million babies born in 2023, or 54.4 live births for every 1,000 females ages 15 to 44, according to provisional data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics.

Asthma drugs can be pricy, so much so that the U.S. Senate health committee opened an investigation into the situation in January. Shortly afterward, three of the biggest makers of asthma inhalers pledged to cap out-of-pocket costs for some U.S. patients at $35.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s initiative targets many of the “utilization management” practices insurance companies use to hold down costs by either denying claims or steering patients toward lower-cost options.

Some serious symptoms – including blurred vision, difficulty swallowing, shortness of breath, difficulty lifting one’s head and even hospitalizations – have been linked to the use of counterfeit Botox, the FDA said on Tuesday. As of Friday, a total of 19 women from nine states reported “harmful reactions.”

With $3 million in federal funding, researchers are studying how to expand the types of professionals who can issue a diagnosis. Currently in Illinois, only physicians and clinical psychologists can do so.

A bill moving through the Illinois legislature to allow certain terminally ill patients to end their own lives with a doctor’s help had made progress. Vermont and Oregon permit any qualifying American to travel to their state for the practice.

Mental health resources and early intervention can play a crucial role in preventing suicides, but researchers say those services are becoming harder to access.

The Chicago nonprofit helps patients access advanced care or specialized treatment often only found in major cities at a limited number of hospitals or academic medical centers. A 25th anniversary celebration is planned for Monday.

Sickle cell disease affects about 5,000 people across Illinois — and it’s mostly impacting Black communities. While gene therapies have emerged to treat the disease, high costs can limit access.

Allergy season is here — and it’s earlier and stronger than expected. The level of misery people will face depends on where they live and what they’re allergic to, but there are things you can do to feel better.

About 5,000 Illinoisans live with sickle cell disease, a gene defect most common in Black people that causes red blood cells to be misshapen and die off early, resulting in chronic fatigue and pain. 

The changes, which Gov. J.B. Pritzker first unveiled in his State of the State address in February, would limit the ability of companies to deny claims or steer patients toward cheaper, and possibly less effective, treatments.

A recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling is raising questions about IVF. In Illinois, the Reproductive Health Act protects the increasingly popular path to parenthood while establishing people’s right to make decisions about their own reproductive health.