When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention introduced its Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System in 1987, the number of pregnancy-related deaths per 100,000 live births in the U.S. was 7.2. In 2017, that number stood at 17.3. The CDC acknowledges that the reasons for the increase in documented pregnancy-related deaths […]
Read More
For a decade, West Virginia has struggled with a rising tide of drug addiction. Has it gotten worse during the coronavirus pandemic, when many Americans have had to keep their distance from friends and family? That’s what Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said during an interview with the Washington Examiner on Aug. 19. […]
Read More
Angela Dearinger is justifiably worried about the prevalence of tobacco use in her state and region. Dearinger is Kentucky’s public health commissioner, and one in four adults in central Appalachia reports being a smoker. The national rate is 16.3 percent. In a study released this past spring, researchers from East […]
Read More
A new report released this week by the American Lung Association finds fine particle, or soot, pollution continues to improve across West Virginia, but smog pollution remains a challenge. The American Lung Association’s 20th annual “State of the Air” report analyzed air quality data collected by federal, state and local […]
Read More
Gillette, Wyoming, isn’t the kind of place you just happen to come across. “It’s about a four hour drive through vast, unimpacted, wide, sweeping plains,” said Matt Gray, a professor at University of Wyoming in Laramie, explaining the trek from his office to his clients. Plains, he said, “and lots […]
Read More
Miners and advocates rallied Wednesday at the West Virginia Capitol in support of a series of bills aimed at preventing and treating severe black lung disease. Five bills introduced by lawmakers would make it easier to make qualify for state benefits and provide benefits to miners who have early-stage black […]
Read More