Pastor-led grocery store officially opens in Danville food desert
With help from a state grant, Carle Health and other partners, Heavenly Square is bringing fresh ingredients to an area of Danville where they were inaccessible before.
Pritzker signs birth equity initiative into law, celebrates Medicaid expansion
State-regulated insurance plans will be required to cover midwife services next year.
IDPH: Dozens of Central Illinois zip codes now at ‘high risk’; children need to be tested for lead
Starting this year, several communities in Central Illinois will begin mandatory lead testing for children. On Wednesday, the Illinois Department of Public Health announced that several zip codes in Champaign, Coles, Douglas, Macon, Piatt, Sangamon, and Vermilion Counties are considered high-risk areas for lead exposure. This means that kids living in these areas have to…
How supporting caregivers could make a difference in dementia
Patients and their caregivers are often left to navigate the confusing world of dementia by themselves, but Medicare is launching a new program to change that.
The Supreme Court rejects a nationwide opioid settlement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma
The agreement provided that the Connecticut-based company would emerge from bankruptcy as a different entity, with its profits used for treatment and prevention. The high court had put the settlement on hold last summer, after the Biden administration objected.
The Supreme Court allows emergency abortions in Idaho for now in a limited ruling
The Biden administration had argued doctors must be allowed to provide emergency abortions when a pregnant patient’s health is at serious risk. But Idaho said its law does allow abortions to save the life of a pregnant woman and federal law doesn’t require wider exceptions.
Concerns raised in Monticello about number of brain cancer cases; Data being collected from the community
This past February at a Monticello City Council meeting, resident Caitlin McClain spoke about her father-in-law who died of brain cancer in 2022. “My father-in-law was a smart, strong, witty man,” McClain said. “He couldn’t talk at all. In fact, the only thing that he could say was ‘I love you’ to his 4-year-old granddaughter,…
Unanimous Supreme Court preserves access to widely used abortion medication
The Biden administration and New York-based manufacturer Danco Laboratories argued mifepristone is among the safest drugs the FDA has ever approved.
Senators blast health and law enforcement officials over illegal e-cigarettes used by teens
Senator Dick Durbin singled out the FDA for not taking action against a vape shop selling illegal products less than a mile from its headquarters.
Illinois Planned Parenthood clinics see uptick in Southerners seeking abortions since overturning of Roe
Illinois has become a haven for abortion care, with nearly a quarter of Planned Parenthood patients coming from 41 states over the last two years, up from 3% to 5% of patients prior to the 2022 Dobbs decision.
The push for embryo rights worries IVF patients and doctors in the Midwest
Thirteen states across the U.S., including much of the Midwest, introduced bills this year that could give some rights to embryos and fetuses usually associated with people. None passed but people in the fertility world are concerned that lawmakers will try again and what that means for reproductive rights.
Maternal health, abortion protection measures advance as session nears end
In the final days of their spring legislative session, Democrats in the General Assembly advanced measures aimed at expanding and protecting aspects of maternal and women’s health care. If signed into law, the measures would expand insurance coverage of pregnancy and postpartum services, maintain abortion as a viable treatment option for women experiencing certain emergencies,…
The Checkup: ‘Junk patents’ by big pharma lead to soaring drugs prices, FTC says
The Federal Trade Commission says drug makers are gaming the system in order to keep drug prices high by filing what it describes as “junk patents”.
Pritzker pledges to expand access to mental health care in Illinois
Service providers, state agency officials joined governor for Springfield panel.
Is private equity ruining health care? It’s complicated
While stories of private equity firms running amok in health care are easy to find, new research paints a more nuanced picture.