The Maricopa County Department of Public Health has confirmed a case of measles in the county, which is being linked to an outbreak in Disney theme parks in California. The woman with measles in Maricopa County wasn’t identified by county officials, but the woman, in her fifties, has since recovered…
The future of Arizona’s Medicaid expansion was thrown in doubt on Wednesday after the state Supreme Court ruled that a legal challenge to the program could move ahead. Thirty-six Arizona lawmakers who voted against the Medicaid bill in 2013 were injured as a group, the court ruled in an opinion…
Ebola may have the nation on high alert, but the deadly virus hasn’t yet made its way to Arizona. With the late summer’s heavy flooding, locals should be more concerned about mosquito-borne diseases, officials say, especially the West Nile virus. “West Nile virus is here; we know it’s here, and…
With the widespread Ebola outbreak in West Africa and yesterday’s death of the first patient diagnosed on U.S. soil, Arizona medical authorities are preparing in case an outbreak occurs here. There have been no diagnoses of Ebola virus infection in the state, and the few scares have not been serious…
Phoenix Children’s Hospital has announced a groundbreaking new institute slated to analyze patients’ unique genetic makeup to create personalized treatment plans. The institute is to focus on precision medicine, essentially an analysis of seriously ill patients and their disease at the molecular level. Precision medicine is used to create precise…
The Ice Bucket Challenge has raised millions of dollars for the ALS Association, but some people question whether it’s safe. One local teacher/business owner has banned her employees from participating after one of her students experienced adverse health effects following the challenge…
Arizona still has the third-highest rate of uninsured children in the nation.However, that rate is dropping, and a report released today by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provides some insight into what type of kids are getting insured…
If you’re an Arizonan, you may have had a better chance at avoiding a cold than people from the other 49 states.According to a Gallup survey, they called 500 Americans every night for a year to asked whether they had colds or the flu a day earlier (among other questions)…
It might not be surprising, but county health departments in Arizona ranked obesity the top public-health priority, according to a survey in the state’s first-ever comprehensive health assessment.In the past 20 years, Arizona’s had a 19 percent increase in the amount of people who are obese or overweight — the…
Here’s something that sounds horrifying: Maricopa County health officials say there’s a “bloody diarrhea outbreak” in the West Valley.Dr. Bob England, director of the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, says the 11 people who have reported this illness know each other.UPDATE: The bloody diarrhea has been linked to Federico’s…
If you’ve ever wondered what’s most likely to put you in a body bag at the end of the day, then wonder no more.A recent report from the Arizona Department of Health Services includes a list of the top 10 killers for 10 age groups of people in Arizona, all…
Despite the outcry from the state’s far-right-wingers, Governor Jan Brewer’s plan for Medicaid expansion plan now only requires her signature to become law.While it certainly seemed odd that Brewer would embrace a part of “Obamacare,” months after shoving her finger in President Obama’s face, she was able to focus more…
While gun-control advocates have been showing off a report that shows more Arizonans have died from bullets in the last few years than car accidents, that report neglects the number-one cause of injury deaths in Arizona — poison.A report on injuries released today by the Arizona Department of Health Services…
The Arizona Department of Health Services has released a database showing, among other things, which hospitals people tend to leave dead a little more than average.The database shows rates of dying at hospitals around the state, and it’s separated by the reason that someone’s admitted to the hospital. For example,…
Almost 13 percent of Arizona children are uninsured — the third-highest rate in the nation, according to a new study by Georgetown University.Coming in at No. 1 was Nevada, with 16.2 percent of its kids uninsured, followed by Texas, with 13.2 percent.The study, conducted by the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute’s…
Jennifer Schuerman, the daughter of Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley’s secretary, will appear on the Dr. Drew “Lifechangers” Show today to talk about her recovery after a stroke.Schuerman was celebrating her 21st birthday in Las Vegas when an undiagnosed hole in her heart allowed a blood clot to pass through…
Two Northern Arizona University students were struck with Pontiac Fever after staying at the Aria in Las Vegas, which has been struggling with lingering bacteria problems.Joseph Dougherty and Erika Keller arrived at the hotel on July 5, stayed two nights before driving back to Flagstaff, then fell seriously ill two…
According to a recently released study from Arizona State University’s Center for Violence Prevention and Community Safety, if you’ve been booked into a Maricopa Count jail, you’re much more likely to catch a sexually transmitted disease than members of the general public.According to the study, if you’ve been booked into…
Starting July 1, if you use tobacco and live in Arizona, don’t even think about applying for a job at insurance giant Humana — it doesn’t want you.The company announced yesterday that it will begin testing potential employees at its five Arizona work locations for nicotine (yes…nicotine)…
Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne today agreed to a hefty $40.8 million settlement agreement with GlaxoSmithKline LLC and PB Pharmco — companies accused of distributing defective drugs.After divvying up the settlement between 37 states and the District of Columbia that also filed complaints, Arizona’s raking getting $1.4 million.From 2001 to 2004, the…
The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” for Men’s Health Week (going on now), and in Arizona, bad and ugly outweigh good. The CDC says in its report that 73 percent of Arizona men are obese or overweight. And they rank worse than the…
If you’re like us, you probably thought plague was the last thing you’d have to worry about while living in a relatively clean, industrialized country — and it still is, despite the discovery of the rare disease in fleas in a remote section of Coconino County.Coconino County health officials announced…
