Health

Sickle-Cell Breakthrough Hailed; Affordability Push Comes Next

by | Feb 23, 2024 12:44 pm | Comments (6)

Kamini Purushothaman Photo

Biree Andamarian, James Rawlings, Cece Calhoun at Thursday evening's gathering.

A panel of doctors lauded the recent approval of CASGEVY, a gene therapy for sickle-cell disease, but called for advocacy to make the treatment affordable, especially for people on Medicaid.

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Cancer Fighters Call On Faith

by | Feb 19, 2024 1:09 pm | Comments (1)

Allan Appel Photo

Steve Harvin with his friend Rev. John Cotten at Sunday's event.

The same God that protected Steve Harvin in combat in Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1993, as a soldier with the 75th Army Ranger Regiment, is continuing to protect — and heal — him in an ongoing battle with cancer.

Sunday evening Harvin raised his hand in praise, along with more than a dozen other cancer survivors in a moving, music and prayer-filled celebration inside a New Haven church billed as Faith Over Cancer.”

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"Ultrafine" Pollution Enters Tweed Debate

by | Feb 13, 2024 4:12 pm | Comments (62)

Paul Bass Photo

Tiny particles from Tweed planes like this one have raised concerns about Morris Cove air.

An air pollution researcher reported finding that unregulated ultrafine” particles spike when Tweed airplanes take off and land — prompting neighbors to consider whether to adjust their daily routines to avoid air pollution, and the airport to double down on plans to expand their operations.

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Health Dept. Move Centers "Wellness"

by | Feb 1, 2024 5:26 pm | Comments (1)

City Health Director Maritza Bond Thursday at her department's new HQ: Wellness the new "holistic approach."

City officials cut the ribbon on a health and wellness” center — and hoped the fresh color scheme and branding strategy could sell STI tests, school physicals and flu vaccinations to the public as presents rather than punishments.

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Overdose-Prevention Grant Heralded On Grand

by | Nov 21, 2023 2:49 pm | Comments (25)

Thomas Breen photo

Mayor Elicker (at podium) and regional health leaders on Tuesday.

Roughly $10 million in federal aid will flow to the New Haven area over the next five years to help municipal health departments take a regional approach in combating the opioid epidemic through the hiring of 10 case-management navigators” and the cross-town sharing of overdose data.

This aid comes as the number of overdose deaths in 2022 reached 490 in New Haven county, including 128 in the city itself.

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1,100 Smiles Brightened At Free Dental Clinic

by | Oct 30, 2023 3:22 pm | Comments (7)

Lisa Reisman photo

Leonard Gorham with Dr. Frederick Landy at Floyd Little-hosted clinic.

In the midst of a teeming bazaar of dental specialists cleaning, drilling, and extracting at Floyd Little Athletic Center, Leonard Gorham, a 71-year-old Air Force veteran from New Haven, relaxed into his dental chair, waiting to be fitted for a partial denture. 

Its cost, ordinarily $500 to $1,500, was $0.00.

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City Lands $7.7M Federal Lead-Abatement Grant

by | Oct 27, 2023 4:19 pm | Comments (6)

Thomas Breen file photo

A lead paint-chipped windowsill in Fair Haven.

Lead paint hazards will be removed from 200 more New Haven homes — and 130 local contractors, maintenance workers, and landlords will receive training in how to do that children’s-health-protecting work — now that the city has been awarded a new $7.7 million federal grant.

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3 Pastors Blast Safe-Injection Sites

by | Oct 24, 2023 9:00 am | Comments (59)

Thomas Breen photo

Pastors Cesar Padilla, Teresa Rivera, and Miguel Castro: Each overcame addiction "when the Lord Jesus came in our lives."

Three pastors and a mayoral challenger took to the steps of City Hall to criticize the Elicker administration for even considering establishing a safe-use injection site downtown — with the clergy arguing that spirituality is the best balm for addiction, and the Republican candidate claiming that city government is further along in such a plan than it has made itself out to be.

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Free Dental Clinic Coming To Floyd Little Athletic Center

by | Oct 24, 2023 8:34 am | Comments (0)

Contributed photo

At Monday's dental clinic-boosting press conference.

Eight hundred volunteers will be be descending upon Sherman Parkway later this week to provide cost-free, first-come-first-served dental care to New Haveners in need of everything from x‑rays to fillings to tooth extractions to limited root canals.

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New Clinic Entrance To Pivot From Sidewalk

by | Oct 16, 2023 1:45 pm | Comments (2)

BZA image

This type of sliding-door won't face Grand Ave., per Fair Haven Health application.

The sliding-door front entrance to Fair Haven Community Health Care’s new Grand Avenue clinic building won’t face Grand Avenue, but will instead point east towards the center’s existing headquarters — in order to prioritize accessibility for patients with disabilities and to avoid existing high-voltage power lines.

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City To Style Up More Salon Inspections

by | Oct 12, 2023 8:55 am | Comments (10)

Laura Glesby Photo

Fatou braids a client's hair, hopes for more landlord accountability.

A new layer of city regulation is coming to local hair, piercing, tattoo, and nail salons — sparking a debate over the burden of annual inspection fees, and prompting one African hair braider to hope that more leverage against neglectful commercial landlords is on the horizon.

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Ex-Patients Sue Yale Over Fentanyl Diversion At Fertility Clinic

by | Oct 10, 2023 5:03 pm | Comments (0)

Seven former patients at a Yale fertility clinic have launched a new lawsuit against the university — in the latest turn in a high-profile scandal involving fentanyl theft and excruciatingly painful procedures for patients who were told they were getting painkillers, but wound up being operated on sober.

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Door Opened For Menthol Cigarette Ban

by | Oct 9, 2023 8:55 am | Comments (35)

Yash Roy photo

Beaver Hills Alder Tom Ficklin (right), with city Environmental Health Director Rafael Ramos: New Haven should "not wait for anyone else and instead be a leader" on a menthol ban.

The city’s health director and a Beaver Hills alder are calling for a citywide ban on menthol cigarettes — while small business owners warned that such a prohibition could drive customers to look to other shops in other towns for not just smoking products, but also bread and milk and gas.

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CDC Director Boosts New Covid Booster

by | Oct 5, 2023 12:40 pm | Comments (41)

Thomas Breen photo

CDC Director Mandy Cohen (second from right): Time to get another Covid shot.

The nation’s top public health official swung by Fair Haven Thursday morning with a vaccine-promoting message: Covid is still with us, and so now is the latest shot designed to protect everyone from an ever-changing virus.

Get the shot, she urged, and don’t worry about paying for it, as the costs should be covered by private insurance and the federal government.

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