Public Health

West Virginia pharmacies dispensed 31.3 million fewer doses of opioids, anti-anxiety medications and amphetamines in 2017, marking a 12 percent decline in controlled substance dispensation from the year prior, according to an annual report from the state's pharmacy board cited…

Between 2012 and 2016, the average price for an outpatient emergency room visit rose 31 percent to $1,917, according a recent Health Care Cost Institute report.

Indiana University Health Paoli Hospital will close its obstetrics unit at the end of March, which will affect 10 employees, according to WBIW.

Officials at Dayton, Ohio-based Premier Health said an increasingly competitive healthcare landscape and an inefficient use of space were major contributors to officials' decision to close Good Samaritan Hospital, also in Dayton, by the end of the year, according to…

Taunton, Mass.-based Morton Hospital notified the state department of public health it intends to close its maternity ward, according to a Taunton Daily Gazette report.

Eric Hargan, acting secretary for HHS, on Jan. 19 renewed the agency's declaration of public health emergency, effective Wednesday, for the nation's ongoing opioid crisis.

Volunteer dentists and hygienists at the Community Dental Clinic in Clearwater, Fla., are helping uninsured patients avoid emergency room visits for dental problems by encouraging dental education and follow-up visits, according to a Tampa Bay Times report.

A car crashed into Evansville, Ind.-based Deaconess Midtown Hospital early Monday morning, reports the Tristate Homepage.

Infants born withdrawing from opioids due to drug exposure in utero may have a higher risk of developing an abnormal twisting of the neck known as torticollis, according to a study published in The Journal of Pediatrics.

The Coca-Cola Company launched a new packaging vision for a "World Without Waste" on Jan. 19.