Although the CDC recommends that people get vaccinated for the flu early in the fall, getting vaccinated now can still be beneficial in protecting you from the flu virus. Furthermore, vaccination should continue to be offered throughout the flu season, even into January or later.

A Congressional agreement reached with bipartisan support would hold patients and individuals harmless from surprise medical bills, which can have a devastating financial impact on patients and which go hand-in-hand with the health care industry’s lack of pricing transparency. The agreement is also bicameral.

The CDC says it has not yet determined the source of an outbreak of E. coli that has so far sickened people in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Maryland, Montana, Washington and Wisconsin. The CDC is coordinating with public health and regulatory officials in those states, along with the FDA, in its investigation into the outbreak.

The holidays are a great opportunity to enjoy time with family and friends, to celebrate life, to be grateful, and to reflect on what’s important. They are also a time to appreciate – and safeguard – the gift of health. “The holiday season is a time to reflect on family and friends, but don’t forget to take time to care for yourself,” said CDC Director Robert R. Redfield, M.D.

Although smoking rates have dropped dramatically in the U.S. - from 42% in 1965 to 14% in 2017 - some groups continue to have high prevalence of cigarette smoking. That’s according to the American Cancer Society (ACS), which is using the upcoming Great American Smokeout as an opportunity to highlight this “hidden epidemic.”

With fall in full swing, colder temperatures mean furnaces across Michigan are heating up homes and businesses. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Consumers Energy and DTE Energy joined together to raise awareness of the dangers of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning and how to prevent it by designating Nov. 4-10 as Michigan Carbon Monoxide Safety Awareness Week.

New data from the Environmental Protection Agency indicate that concentrations of ethylene oxide, a colorless and carcinogenic gas, are higher in Phoenix than anywhere else in the country. The data came from 18 air quality monitoring stations in nine states across the country, from Seattle to St. Louis to Camden, New Jersey.

Environmental groups are reacting angrily to the EPA’s announcement this week of a proposed regulation that applies to the management of coal combustion residuals (CCR) from electric utilities, while coal-producing states are supporting the job protection they say will result. If enacted, the regulation would amend a 2015 Obama-era rule establishing a set of solid waste requirements for the management of CCRs.

The idea sounded fishy to Dr. Adriane Fugh-Berman. She was not about to put her name on a ghostwritten article for a medical journal. But she was curious, so she played along for a while. An associate professor at Georgetown University Medical Center, Fugh-Berman was contacted in 2004 by a medical communications firm working for drug maker AstraZeneca with a proposition: Would she like an author credit on a forthcoming article to be submitted to a journal?

As of the end of October, there were 1,888 confirmed and probable lung injury cases associated with use of e-cigarette, or vaping, products reported to the CDC by 49 states (all except Alaska), the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Approximately 70% of patients are male; the median age of patients is 24 years and ages range from 13 to 75 years and 79% of patients are under 35 years old.