Health and Medicine

The past president of the Illinois Association of Addiction Professionals spoke Wednesday in Pekin for a National Recovery Month networking luncheon. 

The FDA is weighing a crackdown on flavored vapes as more people are suffering from respiratory illnesses linked to e-cigarette usage. Seven people are now reported dead, including one from Illinois. 

A group of Illinois Democratic lawmakers want to cap insulin prices at $100 per month.

Tazewell County will be home to one of 40 new dementia care sites in Illinois.

A small but vocal group of local residents came out Tuesday to offer their input to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency on new coal ash regulations.

Over the summer, public schools across Illinois received kits designed to help staff members respond in the event of life-threatening injuries. Each kit contains Nitrile gloves, a MicroShield mask, QuikClot bandages, and a tourniquet — just enough supplies to help save one person from bleeding to death. Schools can receive up to five more free kits if they train more staff on a curriculum called STOP the Bleed.

The federal Child and Adult Care Food Program reimburses child care providers for serving up nutritious foods to children in their care. It serves more than 4.2 million U.S. children each day, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

A Logan County town’s new grocery store may provide a model other rural food deserts can follow. 

At least one person in the Peoria area has been hospitalized after taking what they thought was Xanax, but turned out to be bath salts.

OSF HealthCare employees will have available parking when its new mission headquarters opens in downtown. 

UnityPoint Health - Pekin celebrated the completion of major renovations at the hospital with a ribbon cutting Friday. 

Illinois will soon require insurers to cover EpiPens and similar devices for children 18 and under. But questions remain about whether the law will really lower costs for consumers.

Shrinking Peoria’s food deserts might require thinking differently about grocery stores.

Peoria’s largest hospitals have earned distinction in an annual health care review. U.S. News and World Report’s Best Hospital analysis says OSF Saint Francis Medical Center is the sixth-best hospital in Illinois. UnityPoint Health in Peoria is ranked 18th.

The American Red Cross is urging Illinoisans to roll up their sleeves and donate blood to help address a regional shortage.

A measure awaiting Governor J.B. Pritzker’s signature would allow minors who are at least 12 years old to get access to an HIV prevention drug without a parent or guardian’s permission.

OSF HealthCare and Perry Memorial Hospital in Princeton are eyeing "a variety of partnership options." 

Illinois reached an agreement this week with a suburban Chicago cleaning facility that was releasing toxins into the air at unsafe levels. But attorneys representing residents who live near the plant aren’t happy with it.

The University of Illinois College of Medicine Peoria’s cancer research program has earned a financial boost.

Forecasters warn dangerously hot temperatures and oppressive humidity will persist through the weekend. An excessive heat warning is in effect through Saturday evening.

One local organization is working to break down barriers around testing for and even talking about sexually transmitted diseases with teenagers.

Deric Kimler is the executive director of Central Illinois Friends. The group was started in 1990 by a group of local citizens concerned about the response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Since then, the group has expanded into sex education and STD testing, prevention and treatment referrals throughout the 16 Central Illinois counties they serve. 

The area’s major health providers are working to assess and address the community’s biggest health needs.