Health & Wellness News

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.

A free dental clinic is being offered in Easton next month. Neighborhood Health Centers of the Lehigh Valley will provide free oral health care services at their Easton location.

Lehigh Valley Health Network establishes a new partnership with a clinic offering resources to those with Down syndrome. The partnership is expected to add more variety to the care the patients receive.

Initial vaccine doses for people 6 months and older and booster shots for people 5 years and older now will be available at all Lehigh Valley Physician Group primary care practices.

For the 15th year in a row, the region, including the Lehigh Valley, is being recognized for the most organ donations in the country. Gift of Life Donor Program aided in reaching that goal.

Amanda Buss plans to resign as executive director from the Cancer Support Community of the Lehigh Valley. She’s stepping down to focus on her own health while battling cancer.

Living a healthier lifestyle is one of the top new year's resolutions. A Good Shepherd physical therapy expert talks about how to avoid the “workout warrior” aches and pains and ease into a new routine.

Some Lehigh Valley school districts are reviewing their safety protocols for responding to injuries at area football games after Damar Hamlin's recent collapse brought renewed attention to the dangers of the sport.

Two Lehigh Valley fitness gurus talk about their exercise classes and why you should try them in the new year. Both women agree that group fitness is the key to success.

OSHA documentation shows a prior inspection history for the company that resulted in 3 serious violations involving trench excavation hazards

Members of Easton's Blueprint Communities organization announced their first project, a mural at Chubby's honoring South Side's past, present, and future, on Monday afternoon.

Northampton County and Northampton Community College will offer a free workplace safety training later this month aimed at employees of municipal governments, nonprofits and similar organizations.

The funding, through the Livable Landscape program, was unanimously approved at the county council’s June 18 meeting.

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.