Department of Health

Two Massachusetts agencies have agreed to share data with each other to investigate whether six probable cases of vaping-related lung illnesses are linked to state-licensed marijuana retailers, as health officials suggested last week. The state’s Cannabis Control Commission and the Department of Public Health entered the agreement Friday to share information on dispensaries identified during interviews with patients, a...

Six Massachusetts residents with probable cases of vaping-related lung illnesses said they used products purchased from state-licensed marijuana dispensaries, according to information released Thursday. It is the first time the state Department of Health has linked illnesses to vaping products bought at dispensaries. The state has flagged 90 probable and confirmed cases of vaping-related lung illnesses. Three of those people…

A New Jersey hospital mistakenly gave a kidney transplant to the wrong patient who happens to have the same name as the intended recipient.

A widow is suing Maryland state officials after receiving the wrong remains for her husband who had donated his body to science.

North Carolina health officials say a fourth person has died from Legionnaires’ disease. The N.C. Department of Health and Human Resources said in a statement on Friday that its Division of Public Health has confirmed 141 cases involving residents from counties and multiple states. In addition to the deaths, 94 people were hospitalized. Information gathered by local health officials showed...

As vaping-related illnesses continue to rise, health officials are warning that vape users could be more susceptible to the flu.

Vermont state officials say that the Asian tiger mosquito which can spread the Zika and dengue viruses has been found in Vermont.

Rhode Island’s governor has signed an executive order barring the sale of flavored vaping products throughout the state. Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo on Wednesday said the flavored products are aimed at children and blamed them for “a public health crisis.”

Rhode Island says it will launch a second round of aerial mosquito sprays in response to the increased risk of eastern equine encephalitis. The state health and environmental management departments made the announcement Thursday to begin spraying two targeted areas on Sept. 23. The decision comes after state officials confirmed on Tuesday at least three human cases of the mosquito-borne...

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is pushing to enact a statewide ban on the sale of flavored e-cigarettes amid growing health concerns connected to vaping, especially among young people.

A person has died from eastern equine encephalitis, or EEE, on Sunday in Rhode Island, state officials announced Monday. It’s the state’s first EEE death in over a decade. The patient, a West Warwick resident in their 50s, was Rhode Island’s first EEE case since 2010, the Rhode Island Department of Health had announced Aug. 30.

The son of reggae legend Bob Marley and a Colorado firm have applied to open a medical marijuana dispensary in New Jersey.

Adriana Loya reports from Grafton, one of 10 communities currently under a critical risk for EEE in the Commonwealth.

With a sweeping round of statewide lead tests now underway at Vermont schools and day care centers, some faucets and drinking fountains are getting failing grades. Wednesday, state health and environmental leaders unveiled a new website where families can check on lead levels in their kids’ drinking water sources. Under a new state law, every tap used for drinking or...

Bottled water that health officials say contains elevated levels of potentially dangerous chemicals is still being sold at stores across New England, according to a Boston Globe report. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health warned on July 2 that bottled spring water sold by Haverhill, Massachusetts-based Spring Hill Farm Dairy Inc. contained elevated levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.

A North Carolina man has died from a rare brain-eating amoeba after swimming in a manmade lake at a water park, officials said Wednesday. The state Department of Health and Human Resources said in a news release that the infection was caused by the amoeba naturally present in warm freshwater during the summer. The unnamed person became sick after swimming...

Fairfax County health officials said they don’t yet have a cause of the respiratory illness that sicked more than 60 residents at a Northern Virginia senior living community.

A Missouri judge on Monday ruled that the state’s lone abortion clinic can continue performing abortions through Friday but kicked the clinic’s lawsuit out of court. St. Louis Circuit Judge Michael Stelzer extended a preliminary injunction he previously issued in order to give a Planned Parenthood affiliate in St. Louis time to take a licensing fight before an administrative panel....

A Missouri judge on Monday ruled that the state’s lone abortion clinic can continue performing abortions through Friday but kicked the clinic’s lawsuit out of court. St. Louis Circuit Judge Michael Stelzer extended a preliminary injunction he previously issued in order to give a Planned Parenthood affiliate in St. Louis time to take a licensing fight before an administrative panel....

A federal appeals court in Washington ruled Friday against a Trump administration policy it described as a “blanket ban” preventing immigrant teens in government custody from getting abortions, and it kept in place an order blocking the policy. The policy, which dates to 2017, prohibited shelters from facilitating abortions for children held in government shelters after entering the country illegally....