For Friday, Nov. 29, WGN’s Ray Cortopassi and Lourdes Duarte have the latest on new medical information, including:
Severe pregnancy complication rising in Illinois
A new study from Northwestern Medicine reveals a rise in severe pregnancy complications in Illinois.
Researchers found more pregnant patients are developing high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, mental health disorders, and obesity.
They looked at nearly one million births in the state between 2016 and last year.
The rates of chronic illness were even higher for low-income and Black pregnant women, who faced more than double the rate of severe complications.
Insurers making patients pay for HIV pills that are supposed to be free
The rates of chronic illness were even higher for low-income and Black pregnant women, who faced more than double the rate of severe complications.
HIV prevention treatments are supposed to be free under federal rules, but studies found that thousands of patients are still being forced to pay for them.
They’re known as prep treatments and reduce the risk of contracting HIV through sex by 99%.
The Washington Post found that some private insurance companies have not followed federal rules and forced patients to pay hundreds of dollars a year for the drugs.
The Biden administration has now ordered insurers to cover all forms of prep treatments.
World Health Organization calls for tougher surveillance of bird flu
The World Health Organization is calling for stronger surveillance of animals for bird flu infections in an effort to contain the spread of the virus.
The agency also urges stronger efforts to reduce the risk of transmission to people and other animal species.
Just last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed the presence of bird flu in a pig on a backyard farm in Oregon.
And so far this year, 55 cases in humans, including a child, have been reported in the US.
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