Tens of thousands of Mayor Catherine Pugh’s “Healthy Holly” children’s books have not been accounted for by the institution that paid for them or the mayor, even as public pressure builds amid accusations of “self-dealing” at the University of Maryland Medical System. From 2011 through 2018, the...
After years of obscurity, “Healthy Holly,” the heroine of a series of children’s books by Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh, is suddenly front-page headline news. The fictional child seems harmless — after all, she just wants kids to exercise and eat healthy. But when it emerged last week that Pugh...
Maryland is getting $17.3 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as the latest installment in a program designed to expand access to opioid treatment. The two-year-old program seeks to address the opioid crisis in part by making Food and Drug Administration-approved medications...
University of Maryland Medical System CEO Robert A. Chrencik was placed on leave Thursday as accusations of self-dealing and no-bid contracting with board members have rocked the hospital network. Board chairman Stephen A. Burch announced that Chrencik — who is paid more than $4.2 million a year...
Spring is in the air, and more pollen is, too. For the 8 percent of U.S. adults estimated to suffer from pollen allergies, spring can bring symptoms that include itchy eyes, runny noses, congestion and sneezing as trees and grass begin to pollinate. For some people, symptoms are already starting....
House Speaker Michael Busch said Wednesday that he will introduce sweeping legislation to reform the University of Maryland Medical System’s board of directors as accusations of “self-dealing” have rocked the hospital network. Busch’s legislation — which will act as a companion bill with Sen. Jill...
The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved the first drug specifically for postpartum depression, a debilitating condition that affects about 400,000 women a year in the United States. The disorder, which begins during pregnancy or within a month of childbirth, is far more severe than...
My college experience included this life-skills lesson: Drink alcohol on a full stomach, so you don't get inebriated too quickly. Of course, most college students shouldn't be drinking at all, but we know from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism that close to 60 percent of college...
Maryland's Senate president said Tuesday that he thinks his chamber will pass a measure to allow the terminally ill to end their lives with a doctor's help in "a very, very close vote." Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller told reporters he believes there will be "a lot of amendments" offered...
Two more members of the University of Maryland Medical System’s board of directors have resigned amid intense scrutiny over the system’s contracting practices — and as the hospital network announced a “comprehensive review” of its business deals. Stephen A. Burch, chairman of the University of...
Baltimore City remains the least healthy jurisdiction in Maryland and Montgomery County is the healthiest, according to the latest ranking from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. The groups take an annual look at drivers of health, going...
During a six-week stretch in December and January, six infants died in their sleep in homes around Baltimore. It was the worst spate of sleep-related infant fatalities since the city began a campaign in 2009 to teach new mothers how to avoid such a tragedy, and health officials say they are trying...