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Latest Health News

A home health care worker helps a woman while walking through a park. (Thianchai Sitthikongsak/Getty Images)

Mass. lawmakers approve measure allowing more home health care workers to unionize

The measure, tucked into the state's $3.1 billion supplemental budget, would allow some 4,000 health care workers not currently covered by the union to join.

An outdoor box in Northampton, Massachusetts, can fit up to nine packages of Narcan, each containing two doses of the overdose-reversal drug. (Alden Bourne/NEPM)

Outdoor boxes with Narcan getting plenty of use in Northampton and Greenfield

Mass. enacted strong abortion protections. Planned Parenthood's new leader wants it to go further

The tents are gone from 'Mass. and Cass,' but concerns about care remain

88,000 people dropped from MassHealth in October

More Health News

Overdose deaths rose for pregnant people and people in the first few months after giving birth between 2018 and 2021. (JGI/Jamie Grill/Getty Images)

Overdose deaths rose among pregnant people, postpartum parents

The study's authors say their findings have "profound implications for the way we discourage, directly or indirectly, women from seeking [substance use disorder] care during pregnancy."

From Paxlovid to Spikevax: Inside the 'intensive' process of naming drugs

“The typical reaction to a pharmaceutical name is like, ‘Who came up with that? They must have shouted it out when they were leaving a meeting,’” Scott Piergrossi, The Brand...

With adult shelters in Mass. overflowing, advocates worry about winter

While the state's family shelter system is in crisis, adult shelters filled earlier than normal this fall. Many are operating over capacity, and advocates are calling for action from the...

State to house migrant families in government conference rooms amid shelter crisis

The move comes after the state shelter system exceeded Gov. Maura Healey's self-imposed 7,500-family cap earlier this month.

'I landed on love': Families try a different approach to addiction

The success of addiction treatment often depends on the person struggling. But there may be a crucial — and often overlooked — factor. Some experts say loved ones can play...

Hundreds of Salem Hospital patients warned of possible exposure to hepatitis and HIV

Salem Hospital in Massachusetts says hundreds of patients may have been exposed to hepatitis and HIV over a two-year period but that the infection risk is extremely low.

State senator who serves in National Guard sees family shelter crisis from 2 vantage points

Sen. John Velis, a Democrat who represents parts of Hampden and Hampshire counties, was activated with the Massachusetts National Guard to serve for two weeks in hotels and motels that...

2 reports urge better access to maternal care and other medical services in Mass.

Gov. Maura Healey ordered the review of maternal health access across the state, as well as medical services in northern Worcester County, following the controversial decision to close a Leominster...

Health

Nov 15, 2023

Cigarette butts in an ashtray in New York in 2019. (Jenny Kane/AP)

Mass. is first in nation for lung cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment, per ALA

Still, advocates with the American Lung Association say more can be done to improve access to screenings. Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer deaths in Massachusetts and the...

Local Coverage

Nov 14, 2023

View of the Massachusetts State House from the corner of Tremont and Park Streets. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

What the State House is doing about the Mass. family shelter system

Massachusetts' emergency family shelter system will begin turning away eligible families for the first time Friday. The moment has also opened up a divide between Gov. Maura Healey and some...

Local Coverage

Nov 10, 2023