Health

    Henrietta Lacks family can proceed with lawsuit over use of HeLa cells after ‘milestone’ ruling
    The family of Henrietta Lacks can pursue compensation from a pharmaceutical company over its use of her HeLa cells, which have been influential in modern medicine after being taken without her consent decades ago.
    Illustration of Henrietta Lacks and members of her family.
    Want to swim in the Inner Harbor? ‘Harbor Splash’ event set for late June
    The Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore on Monday said the first public swim event in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor in decades will be held on June 23. Registration for “Harbor Splash” begins next week.
    The Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore is promoting a Healthy Harbor in Baltimore took a test swim in the waters in September. The group is promoting making the harbor swimmable by 2024.
    Commentary: Long emergency room wait times point to health system failures
    Rethinking approaches to health care and adopting a new nursing initiative would help alleviate long emergency care wait times that put Marylanders at risk, leaders of health care and nursing programs at Johns Hopkins and Morgan State universities say.
    From left: Sarah Stanton, Kim Dobson Sydnor and Maija Anderson.
    Commentary: Migrant children are vital to the fabric of our communities
    Maryland must do more to address the educational, health and other urgent needs of migrant children, say a Johns Hopkins primary care pediatrician and a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
    A composite photo of Sarah Polk and Kiara Alvarez.
    Here’s when BCCC demolition downtown is (finally) expected to be over
    Demolition of Baltimore City Community College’s downtown Bard Building is scheduled for completion in early September.
    Demolition of the Baltimore City Community College Bard Building, at the intersection of East Lombard Street and Market Place in Baltimore, on April 13, 2024.
    People with severe mental illness are languishing in jail. Now the state has to pay
    A crush of court orders and the lack of psychiatric hospital bed space have led to a record-high waitlist for jail transfers.
    Baltimore County Detention Center located in Towson, MD.
    St. Agnes Hospital reacts to ‘mini-disaster status’ after cyberattack
    The Maryland Emergency Medical Services System, which monitors hospitals across the state, placed St. Agnes in mini-disaster status, meaning new patients to the emergency room were rerouted to other hospitals.
    Ascension St. Agnes Hospital says it reacted quickly following a cyberattack on its computer systems that forced the facility to stop admitting new patients to the emergency room.
    Maryland hospitals took money from poor patients. Why haven’t they paid them back?
    Refunds are coming — as much as eight years after the first patients paid their bills.
    Hospital and state officials have to figure out how to find the patients owed refunds without violating the privacy laws that protect their health and income data.
    Which states could have abortion on the ballot in 2024?
    Maryland voters also will be asked this year to enshrine the right to abortion in the state’s constitution. The state already protects the right to abortion under state law and Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1.
    A “WE’RE VOTING YES” sign is seen on a bench outside the Maryland State House following a reproductive rights presser on Lawyers Mall on Jan. 22, 2024. Voters will decide if abortion is a right that will be included in the state constitution.
    Ocean City making opioid overdose medication publicly available
    The boxes will have instructions on how to administer the medication and a QR code that can be scanned to learn more about opioid overdoses and nalaxone.
    People walk along the Ocean City Boardwalk.
    Bad allergies? Blame botanical sexism and Baltimore sidewalks
    Urban planners have often favored male trees that make pollen over female trees that make seeds, contributing to the abundance of sneeze-inducing yellow stuff.
    Cities like Baltimore have often planted more pollen-making male trees than female trees, contributing to the abundant yellow dust.
    A methadone clinic is opening in West Baltimore. Neighbors want to know: Why here?
    A West Baltimore neighborhood near Mondawmin Mall is trying to stop the opening of a clinic that administers methadone.
    Residents say they learned last year that a former auto parts warehouse in West Baltimore would become Charm City Medical Center, which will offer methadone treatment.
    Johns Hopkins breeds millions of mosquitoes — to stop them from killing you
    After the U.S. logged its first cases of malaria in decades, Johns Hopkins mosquito research takes on new urgency.
    Mosquito colonies in the insectary at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health are housed in clear boxes in a climate-controlled room and fed sugar to sustain them.
    Tragedies highlight mental health needs of Spanish-speaking immigrants
    In the days and weeks after the Key Bridge collapse, therapists and grief workers who service Baltimore’s Spanish-speaking immigrant community say they have seen a significant increase in referrals and clients — many of whom were already struggling with trauma.
    Ana Carrera, terapias manager (left) and Amy R. Greensfelder, executive director of Pro Bono Counseling.
    Letters: City leaders shouldn’t condone dirt bike riders
    A Federal Hill resident says dirt bikers, such as the ones who ride through Federal Hill Park, put others and themselves at risk and generally diminish the quality of life in Baltimore.
    Baltimore Police and the State's Attorney's office have announced a crackdown on riding dirt bikes on city streets.
    University of Maryland Medical Center doctors push to unionize, a first in the state
    A group of physicians at the University of Maryland Medical Center have formed a union that would represent more than 900 residents and fellows, according to union organizers.
    Resident physicians and fellows at the University of Maryland Medical Center have organized with the American Federation of Teachers-Maryland.
    Health care for Marylanders with HIV is facing huge cuts this summer
    Advocates are sounding alarms and asking state health officials to find funding to offset big looming cuts to services that have made living with HIV infections possible.
    Care for Marylanders with HIV, including outreach and testing, is slated for deep budget cuts.
    Your hospital is a nonprofit, but your ER doctor works for Wall Street
    Maryland's emergency rooms need improving, and hospitals are increasing outsourcing the job to a national firm.
    Laurel Medical Center will be among the 10 University of Maryland Medical System locations where the emergency room will be operated by an outside firm.
    Maryland takes steps to prevent avian influenza from spreading to dairy cows in the state
    The Department of Agriculture has issued an order putting restrictions on bringing dairy cows into Maryland.
    The U.S. Department of Agriculture says avian influenza has been detected in dairy cows in states including Texas, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, Idaho and Ohio.
    Maryland’s new approach to gun violence is all about the data
    State lawmakers recently approved legislation creating the Center for Firearm Violence Prevention, sending it to the desk of Gov. Wes Moore. The idea is to collect and use data to design strategies — the same technique used to fight disease — to reduce the number of people killed and injured by guns every year in Maryland.
    Detectives investigate the scene of a shooting in Pasadena, where police said a 61-year-old woman raised a handgun officers before they shot her.
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