Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA

If you want a Covid shot this fall, will your employer’s health insurance plan pay for it? There’s no clear answer.Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist, has upended the way Covid vaccines are approved and for whom they’re recommended, creating uncertainty where coverage was routine.Agencies within HHS responsible for spelling out who should get vaccinated aren’t necessarily in sync, issuing seemingly contradictory recommendations based on age or risk factors for serious disease.But the ambiguity may not affect your coverage, at least this year.“I think in 2025 it’s highly likely that the employer plans…

BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) — A 110-foot Ferris wheel. Race cars painted in MLB team colors. Food trucks. Live music. Pitching tunnels and batting cages. A chance for photos with the Commissioner’s Trophy. And Clydesdales. Of course, there’s merchandise available for any fans who forgot to grab their gear supporting the Atlanta Braves or Cincinnati Reds or simply commemorating a spectacle unlike any other. “My sister’s already texted me asking for a t shirt,” said Marcia Lorenzo, 39, from Charleston, South Carolina.After about four years in the planning, it’s finally time for the MLB Speedway Classic to play ball Saturday night…

DENVER (AP) — Colorado Rockies outfielder Brenton Doyle had a hard time describing what had just taken place after he delivered the crowning blow in perhaps the wildest game of the major league season.Doyle hit a two-run homer with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to cap Colorado’s stunning comeback from a nine-run, first-inning deficit in a 17-16 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night.“Honestly, pretty speechless,” Doyle told reporters. “It’s hard to put into words. Just so proud of everyone in this clubhouse, never giving up. Man, what a win.”Colorado won despite allowing nine runs…

Although it’s been over a decade since game-changing curative drugs for hepatitis C were approved, progress has been slow and treatment remains out of reach for many. But one small clinic in Buffalo, New York, is proving that doesn’t have to be the case.Hepatitis C is a silent epidemic in the U.S., affecting up to 4 million people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many people don’t know they have it. Left untreated, the disease can cause cirrhosis and liver cancer.With a model that’s faster, more accessible and remarkably effective, La Bodega, a clinic at Erie County Medical…

Health officials are warning of a rise in potentially deadly “flesh-eating” bacteria cases along the Gulf Coast, with Louisiana reporting higher numbers than usual this summer.Louisiana health officials have reported 17 cases of Vibrio vulnificus so far this year — four of which have resulted in death. That compares to an average of seven cases and one death in the same period over the past 10 years. All 17 cases in Louisiana resulted in the person being hospitalized, the Louisiana Department of Health said.Meanwhile, health officials in Florida confirmed 13 cases and four deaths this year.ABC News – PHOTO: Dr.…

PERRY, N.Y. (AP) — As a student in western New York’s rural Wyoming County, Briar Townes honed an artistic streak that he hopes to make a living from one day. In high school, he clicked with a college-level drawing and painting class. But despite the college credits he earned, college isn’t part of his plan.Since graduating from high school in June, he has been overseeing an art camp at the county’s Arts Council. If that doesn’t turn into a permanent job, there is work at Creative Food Ingredients, known as the “cookie factory” for the way it makes the town…

Lina Kahn is having an “I told you so” moment.The former FTC chair celebrated Figma’s stellar IPO in an X post on Friday, nodding at the larger movement, including her own efforts, to block major tech mergers.”A great reminder that letting startups grow into independently successful businesses, rather than be bought up by existing giants, can generate enormous value,” Khan, who led the FTC from 2021 to 2025, said. “A win for employees, investors, innovation, and the public.”Figma went public on Thursday, valued at $19.3 billion, and closed at 250% above its asking price, valuing the design company at nearly…

Reigning 100-meter world champion Sha’Carri Richardson was arrested last weekend for allegedly assaulting her boyfriend at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Richardson was arrested Sunday on a fourth degree domestic violence offense, according to the police report obtained by The Associated Press. On Thursday, she ran in the opening round the women’s 100 meters at U.S. track and field championships in Eugene, Oregon. She has an automatic bye to the world championships in September in Tokyo as the defending champion.The 25-year-old Richardson was booked into the South Correctional Entity (SCORE) in Des Moines, Washington, at 6:54 p.m. last Sunday and released…

Multiple medical groups say they have been barred from working on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s panel of vaccine advisers.It comes weeks after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired the original panel of independent experts and replaced them with his own handpicked members — many of whom have expressed skeptical views on vaccines.Liaisons representing major medical groups were historically invited to meetings of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) as non-voting members to provide their independent expertise in respective fields. In a joint statement, the groups said they have now been excluded “from…

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (AP) — A law school graduate collapsed while taking the bar exam in a New York City suburb this week, prompting an emergency response as other aspiring lawyers worked on their exams. But some Reddit users claiming they were among the test-takers Wednesday say they’re upset the exam wasn’t halted outright.Hofstra University spokesperson Terry Coniglio said Friday that the test-taker collapsed shortly before a scheduled lunch break at the Long Island campus.Hofstra Public Safety officers immediately provided life saving emergency care, including CPR and defibrillation, until paramedics arrived and transported them to a local hospital, she said.The New…