Health News

(FLORIDA) -- A top Florida pediatrician warned Thursday that the state's plan to eliminate all vaccine mandates could lead to outbreaks of preventable diseases and put vulnerable populations at risk.Dr. Lisa Gwynn, a former president of the American Academy of Pediatrics' Florida chapter, told ABC News that removing vaccine requirements for public school children could endanger not just students, but also "newborn infants, elderly populations, and people with compromised immune systems, including […]

(NEW YORK) -- People who use their smartphones while sitting on the toilet face are at higher risk for painful, itchy hemorrhoids, according to new research published in the journal PLOS One.Researchers investigated the bathroom habits of 125 adults undergoing screening colonoscopies at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. About two-thirds of participants reported scrolling through their smartphones while sitting on the toilet.Those who were glued to their phone […]

(WASHINGTON) -- The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) hit back at an op-ed written by the most recent six surgeons general, who said they wanted to warn the U.S. about the dangers of Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.The op-ed, published in The Washington Post on Tuesday, called the health secretary’s policies and positions an "immediate and unprecedented" threat to the nation’s health.In a statement to ABC News, HHS spokesperson Andrew […]

(TALLAHASSEE, Fla.) -- Florida is moving to "end all vaccine mandates" in the state, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo announced at a press conference on Wednesday.Ladapo said the Florida Department of Health would be working with Gov. Ron DeSantis' office to end all mandates in state law, at the event at Grace Christian School in Valrico, located just east of Tampa."Every last one of them is wrong and drips with […]

(WASHINGTON) -- More than 1,000 current and former employees across the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) signed a letter on Wednesday morning calling for Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s resignation.Addressed to Kennedy and members of Congress, the signatories accused the secretary of endangering the health of Americans. Save HHS, the group behind the letter, told ABC News it's been sent to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and […]

(NEW YORK) -- A fast-rising form of breast cancer that's harder to detect on mammograms now makes up more than one in ten cases in the United States, according to a new report from the American Cancer Society (ACS). Invasive lobular carcinoma, the second most common breast cancer type, is increasing about 3% each year, more than triple the rate of other breast cancers, the report, published on Tuesday morning, found.About […]

(WASHINGTON) -- Dr. Richard Besser explains why he and other former directors of the CDC wrote an op-ed criticizing Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s handling of the CDC and public health.Nine former directors of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are speaking out, saying Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is endangering the health of Americans.Seven former directors and two former acting directors […]

Detail of vials and syringe containing a COVID-19 vaccination by Pfizer at Kaiser Permanente Venice Medical Office Building in Culver City Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) (NEW YORK) -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its immunization schedule on Monday, dropping the universal COVID-19 vaccine recommendation and recommending that toddlers receive the chickenpox shot separately from the measles, […]

(NEW YORK) -- A large new study conducted in Spain and Italy found that beta blockers, drugs often used to slow the heart rate and lower blood pressure, did not provide clear benefits for heart attack patients whose hearts were still functioning well.The results of the study, known as REBOOT, were published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Saturday and presented during the European Society of Cardiology Congress […]