Health

The Daily Item

The Daily Item

DANVILLE — Starting Monday, Geisinger’s outpatient behavioral health services will be offered at a new location in the Geisinger Hughes Center South building at 9 Stearns Lane in Danville. The Hughes Center building is near Geisinger Healthplex Woodbine, and patients should use Entrance A when coming for appointments.

HARRISBURG — Xylazine is now formally listed as a Schedule III drug in the commonwealth after Gov. Josh Shapiro signed a western Pennsylvania lawmaker’s bill into law Wednesday.

LEWISBURG — Union County and the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General launched the county’s involvement with the Law Enforcement Treatment Initiative during a press conference on Wednesday.

The number of U.S. fatal overdoses fell last year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted the numbers Wednesday. CDC officials noted the data is provisional and could change after more analysis, but that they still expect a drop when the final counts are in. The agency says about 107,500 people died of overdoses in the U.S. last year. That’s down 3% from 2022. It’s too soon to know what spurred the decline, but experts reacted cautiously. They say the decline as relatively small.

Sales of raw milk appear to be on the rise, despite an outbreak of bird flu in U.S. dairy cows. Federal officials warn about the health risks of drinking raw milk at any time, but especially during the outbreak. Weekly sales of raw cow's milk have jumped compared with the same periods last year. That's according retail market research data show. Raw milk farmers say they can't keep unpasteurized products in stock. Some people claim that raw milk has health benefits, but multiple studies show it is one of the riskiest foods people can consume.

U.S. officials pledged nearly $200 million in new spending and other efforts Friday to help track and contain an outbreak of bird flu in the nation's dairy cows. The outbreak of the virus known as Type A H5N1 has spread to 42 herds in nine states. The new funds include $101 million to continue work to prevent, test, track and treat animals and humans potentially affected by the virus. And they include about $28,000 each to help individual farms test cattle and bolster biosecurity efforts to halt the spread of the virus.

Regular mammograms to screen for breast cancer should start younger — at age 40. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force announced the updated guidance Tuesday. It also says women ages 40 to 74 should get screened every other year. Previously, it said women could choose to start breast cancer screening as young as 40, with a stronger recommendation that women get the exams every two years starting at age 50.

Conservative Supreme Court justices appear skeptical that state abortion bans enacted after the overturning of Roe v. Wade violate federal health care law, though some also are questioning the effects on emergency care for pregnant patients. The case heard Wednesday will determine when doctors can provide abortions during medical emergencies in states with bans approved after the Roe v. Wade ruling. The case comes from Idaho, which is among 14 states that ban abortion at all stages of pregnancy with very limited exceptions.