Hospital systems around the country are rolling out fees for some messages that patients send to physicians, who they say are spending an increasing amount of time poring over online queries, some so complex that they require the level of medical expertise normally dispensed during an office visit.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. It’s also a time when heart attacks and strokes spike. Research shows heart attacks spike by 30% to 40% in the last two weeks of the year.

Under the leadership of CEO Tim Egan, Chicago’s Roseland Community Hospital has awarded business to his friends and acquaintances, employees have donated to his political funds and he has appeared in a campaign ad for the state’s comptroller.

Pharmacies across the country are seeing surging demand for child-friendly versions of Amoxicillin, Tamiflu and other drugs. That demand has led at times to empty shelves and parents having to try multiple pharmacies to find their child’s prescription.

Japanese drugmaker Eisai and its U.S. partner Biogen had announced earlier this fall that the drug lecanemab appeared to work, a badly needed bright spot after repeated disappointments in the quest for better treatments of the incurable disease.

A recent study from BMJ Global Health says as many as 1.35 billion young people ages 12-34 across the globe are engaging in listening practices that could make them susceptible to hearing loss. 

There have been about eight flu hospitalizations for every 100,000 people this season — rates typically seen in December or January. The RSV hospitalization rate is 10 times higher than usual for this point in the season, too. 

A number of dry shampoos have been voluntarily recalled over high levels of a cancer-causing chemical, benzene, which has been linked to leukemia and other blood disorders, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

Amber Morgan and Tom Johnson met for the first time Saturday, four years after he received a heart transplanted from the body of Andreona Williams, who was 20 when she died from asthma complications

Brian Wallach and his wife, Sandra Abrevaya, founded I AM ALS to find a cure for the disease and to advocate for those who have the progressive neurodegenerative disease. 

Medical students looking to enter the medical field can be particularly vulnerable to the everyday stressors and pressures of entering and working in the profession, according to those in the field. 

While issues like a lack of access to consistent health care as well as language and cultural barriers contribute to those numbers, modern prostate cancer care approaches have evolved to make screening and treatment more successful than ever.

The report by Patient Rights Advocate published in August reviewed 2,000 hospitals across the country and found that 319 were complying with the rule.

Pfizer announced Tuesday that a large international study found vaccinating moms-to-be was nearly 82% effective at preventing severe cases of RSV in their babies’ most vulnerable first 90 days of life. At age 6 months, the vaccine still was proving 69% effective against serious illness.

Philips initially estimated it could repair or replace the units within a year. But with the recall expanding to more than 5 million devices worldwide, the Dutch company now says the effort will stretch into 2023.

Almost all children catch RSV at some point before they turn 2 years old, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. Most adults who catch it have a mild illness; for those who are elderly or who have chronic heart or lung disease or a weakened immune system, it can be dangerous. But RSV can be especially tricky for infants and kids.