Health & Wellness News

LVHN will be one of the first hospitals in Pennsylvania to treat prostate cancer with noninvasive robotic technology. The procedure is said to be more accurate and lowers the risk of side effects.

The tripledemic rages on, but there are ways to lower your risk of infection. A health care administrator talks about what the industry and the public learned from the pandemic about preventing illness.

Medical experts say recent legislation could help reduce the number of opioid overdose deaths in Pennsylvania.

County Executive Lamont McClure previously said he intended to pursue a no-bid contract with New Jersey-based Integrity Health.

Denise Snyder founded St. Luke’s Nurses Honor Guard for those dedicated to the profession.

Grants of up to $400,000 that focus on addiction treatment services for communities that were hard-hit by the opioid epidemic will be awarded later this year.

The program focuses on the risks of overdose from fentanyl-laced pills and other drugs. It's the county’s first funded with money from a settlement with opioid manufacturers and retailers.

Chris Herren will speak to students during the school day then host a free presentation for families at 6:30 p.m. Thursday

A mom is releasing a book hoping to give hope to other parents following her infant’s cancer journey in the Lehigh Valley. Shari Ann Almeida’s daughter Dakota was diagnosed with leukemia at 6-months-old.

Millions saw Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffer cardiac arrest on the football field. Now, Lehigh Valley residents are learning how to use AED machines and perform chest compressions.

The rule was published earlier this month and applies to all 3,117 water systems. Both chemicals belong to the group of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known collectively as PFAS, which are used in products such as nonstick cookware, carpets, firefighting foam and fast-food wrappers.

The organization got a $120,000 grant to jump-start the process and says diversity is important for successful blood transfusions.

Legislators worked to establish penalties for xylazine use and trafficking in an attempt to lessen its presence in Pennsylvania's illicit drug supply. Some say doing so made way for a new, unclassified veterinary tranquilizer to take its place — medetomidine.

The tax and spending plan drew praise from Republicans for lowering taxes and funding border security, but Democrats condemned it for slashing Medicaid coverage and raising the deficit.

Nearly a year after the Biden administration designated xylazine as an "emerging threat" to the United States, Gov. Josh Shapiro classified it as a schedule III drug, making unauthorized possession a crime in Pennsylvania. Experts say the move has partly served to clear the way for new illicit substances to enter the drug market.

Proposed federal budget cuts would impact programs such as the free summer meal program for children in the Allentown School District.

The $2.75 million payment to the federal government resolves allegations that a pharmacy technician stole controlled substances on about 40 occasions and the health network failed to institute proper controls.

Despite not being approved for human consumption, veterinary tranquilizers are infiltrating the illicit drug supply in Pennsylvania. Harm reduction specialists and health care professionals say these overdoses can't be approached solely with naloxone, the opioid overdose reversal drug.

A generous donation from a Lehigh Valley native and others funds free swim lessons for children and adults in the River Crossing YMCA's Safety Around Water, or SAW, swim education program.

The bill would limit the manufacture, sale, distribution and use of firefighting foam containing PFAS, also known as forever chemicals, beginning in 2026.

Xylazine, an animal-grade tranquilizer that's not approved for human use, has taken Pennsylvania's illicit drug supply by storm. Known on the streets as "tranq," it accounted for almost 1 in 4 overdose deaths in Pennsylvania by 2023. Last year in Lehigh County, it was a contributing cause of death in 20 of the 112 deadly overdoses, or 17.9 percent of cases.

The funding comes from the commonwealth’s Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure program, a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Known as "tranq" on the streets, an animal tranquilizer named xylazine infiltrated drug supplies throughout Pennsylvania since 2019. Its presence in the Lehigh Valley has grown, with deadly consequences.

A regionwide wastewater plan and a hazard mitigation plan both advanced with staff review approvals by the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission on Thursday night.