KENYA HUNTER

AP Health Writer
An airline employee transfers a wheelchair to her station at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Nov. 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
The Trump administration withdrew 11 pieces of ADA guidance. How will it affect compliance?
 
In this image from video, Jahzé Wyse braids a client's hair at her salon in Atlanta on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Javier Arciga)
Black women’s hair products are in the safety spotlight. Here’s what to know
Black women around the world spend hours at a time getting synthetic braids but are wondering if the convenience and fashion benefits are outweighed by potential health hazards.
 
A student drinks from a water fountain at an elementary school in California, Sept. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
Utah close to fully banning fluoride in water, stripping cities’ ability to decide
Utah appears to be the first state ready to put a full ban on fluoride in public water systems under a bill that doesn’t allow cities or communities to decide whether to add the cavity-preventing mineral.
 
Natasha Nelson, who was diagnosed with autism in August 2023, just after her youngest daughter was also diagnosed, sits in a sensory room she uses to calm her children in her Stone Mountain, Ga. home on Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Gray)
More adults are wondering if they have autism. Here are tips to seek a diagnosis
More adults have sought insight on whether they have autism in the last decade. It often happens after their children are diagnosed or when they see social media posts.
 
A woman holds up a dosage of Wegovy, a drug used for weight loss, at her home in Front Royal, Va., on March 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades, File)
About half of Americans approve of using weight-loss drugs to treat obesity, AP-NORC poll finds
A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows about half of U.S. adults believe it is a good thing for adults to use weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and other brands if they are struggling with obesity or have a health condition tied to weight.
 
A U.S. Food and Drug Administration building is seen behind FDA logos at a bus stop on the agency's campus in Silver Spring, Md., on Aug. 2, 2018. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
SunFed cucumbers and Costco eggs recalled due to potential salmonella contamination
Cucumbers shipped to the U.S. and Canada — and organic eggs sold in 25 Costco stores in five southern U.S. states — have been recalled because of potential salmonella contamination.
 
FILE - Supporters of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris hold up their fists in the air in unison after she delivered a concession speech after the 2024 presidential election, Nov. 6, 2024, on the campus of Howard University in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
After Trump’s win, Black women are rethinking their role as America’s reliable political organizers
Donald Trump’s victory has dismayed many politically engaged Black women, and they’re reassessing their enthusiasm for politics and organizing.
 
Amber Sherrard and her 10-year-old black Labrador Della are shown outside their home Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, in east Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Disabled Americans rely on rideshare apps but say they still face discrimination
Disabled rideshare users have for years reported having less access to Lyft and Uber than able-bodied people.
 
FILE - A beach goer exercises as the sun rises above the Atlantic Ocean, Feb. 1, 2023, in Surfside, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)
Here are new guidelines for preventing stroke, the nation’s 4th biggest killer
The majority of strokes could be prevented, according to new guidelines aimed at helping people and their doctors do just that.
 
FILE - A woman in a motorized wheelchair casts her vote at the Waikiki Community Center in Honolulu, on Tuesday, Nov. 4 2008. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia, File)
Voters with disabilities are feeling ignored by presidential candidates
A new report from Rutgers University estimates that about 40.2 million eligible voters in the quickly approaching U.S. presidential election are disabled. The voting bloc is growing as the U.S. population ages.
 
Children attend a back to school health fair in Milwaukee, on Saturday Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)
Hundreds of places in the US said racism was a public health crisis. What’s changed?
More than 200 cities and counties declared racism was a public health crisis in the past few years, mostly after George Floyd was murdered by police in Minneapolis in May 2020.
 
This combination of 2021-2023 photos shows U.S. Reps. Shontel Brown, D-Ohio, left; Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Charles Krupa, Susan Walsh)
Congresswomen press FDA on why a proposal to ban hair-straightening chemicals is delayed
Two U.S. House members who first pushed the Food and Drug Administration in 2023 to investigate the health risks of hair straighteners used primarily by Black women are asking the agency why it has twice delayed its target date to propose a ban on products containing formaldehyde.
 
FILE - Dr. Susan Gorman displays the Skyla IUD, left, and the Mirena IUD, at High Lakes Gynecology in Redmond, Ore., Jan. 14, 2015. (Andy Tullis/The Bulletin via AP)
It’s not just IUDs. Gynecologists and patients are focused on making procedures less painful
Federal officials affirmed this month that the pain people might feel when getting an IUD can be more than doctors’ promises of “just a pinch.”
 
Alexis Ratliff, 29, sits with her 11-month-old daughter, Eleah Witcher, and son, Ezekiel, 5, at home in Rocky Mount, N.C., on July 9, 2024. With no hospital in Rocky Mount, Ratliff had a doula to help with the birth of Eleah. (Natalee Waters/Cardinal News, CatchLight Local via AP)
Rural communities of color across the US find new ways to get the health care they need
Some residents believe it kept their loved ones alive.
 
Entrepreneur Becky Litvintchouk works on her computer at a co-working space on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
People with ADHD are turning to AI apps to help with tasks. Experts say try it cautiously
People who have ADHD are starting to turn to AI to help them break down once-insurmountable tasks like emails, business plans and proofreading.
 
Pharmacist George Tadross, takes care of a customer at MAC Pharmacy, Wednesday, May 29, 2024, in Cleveland. Pharmacists play a role in managing chronic diseases like diabetes and heart-related issues, which Black and Hispanic people are more likely to be diagnosed with. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
In cities across the US, Black and Latino neighborhoods have less access to pharmacies
An Associated Press analysis of licensing data from 44 states, data from the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs and the American Community Survey shows residents of neighborhoods that are majority Black and Latino have fewer pharmacies per capita than people who live in mostly white nei
 
FILE - A pedestrian crosses a street in a shopping district Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. Pedestrians who are not white ended up in the emergency room for traffic-related injuries at higher proportions than white people, according to a new federal report published Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
Non-white pedestrians more often end up in the ER for vehicle-related injuries, report shows
Pedestrians who are not white ended up in the emergency room for traffic-related injuries at higher rates than white people. That’s according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
 
FILE - The Nathan Deal Judicial Center, home of Georgia's Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, is seen, Feb. 11, 2020, in Atlanta. No one disputes that Michelle Wierson crashed her SUV into a car stopped at a traffic light, causing the death of a young boy, but while prosecutors say she needs to be held accountable for her actions, her lawyers say her mental state at the time absolves her of liability. The Georgia Court of Appeals, which is set to hear arguments in the case Wednesday, May 1, 2024, will decide whether Wierson’s lawyers can use the insanity defense at trial and, if so, whether the state can try to prove that she wasn’t taking her medication. (AP Photo/John Amis, File)
Court case over fatal car crash raises issues of mental health and criminal liability
No one disputes that Michelle Wierson crashed her SUV into a car stopped at a traffic light in suburban Atlanta, causing the death of a young boy.
 
FILE - This Nov. 11, 2013 file photo shows a bedroom built by Mike Spangler using some reclaimed materials, in Belle, W.Va. Nearly one-third of American adults don't get the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep per night. Some of the major causes: Stress, anxiety and a culture that experts say is about productivity, not rest. (Craig Cunningham/Charleston Daily Mail via AP, file)
Get better sleep with these 5 tips from experts
Nearly a third of American adults don’t get the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep per night. Stress and anxiety are keeping people from snoozing, as can a culture that experts say is about productivity, not rest.
 
This combination of 2023 photos shows Kate, Princess of Wales, left, and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. For some cancer patients, sharing the news can be a difficult decision. Austin initially kept his prostate cancer quiet. Kate also waited to publicly disclose her cancer. (Ian Vogler/Pool via AP, AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Some cancer patients can find it hard to tell family and friends
For some cancer patients, sharing the news can be a difficult decision. Not everyone is comfortable telling others, for cultural or privacy reasons _ or because they just don’t want to talk about it.
 
FILE - Doses of the anti-viral drug Paxlovid are displayed in New York, Aug. 1, 2022. A study by Harvard researchers released on Jan. 26, 2024, found that Paxlovid was disproportionately given to patients with lower risk of severe infection. If it had been properly utilized, the authors concluded, more than 16,000 COVID-19 deaths could have been prevented.. (AP Photo/Stephanie Nano, File)
Paxlovid can lessen the chance of a severe COVID-19 illness. Why is it underused?
Paxlovid can prevent hospitalization and death from COVID-19, but experts say it’s being underused. The pills’ high price and doctors’ hesitation to prescribe them are creating obstacles to getting the drug to everyone who would benefit.
 
FILE - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack holds up a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Electronic Benefits Transfer (SNAP EBT) card during a news conference at the White House, Wednesday, May 5, 2021, in Washington. Nearly 21 million children in the U.S. and its territories are expected to receive food benefits this summer through a newly permanent federal program, the United States Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024. “No child in this country should go hungry,” Vilsack said in an interview on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
USDA estimates 21 million kids will get summer food benefits through new program in 2024
About 21 million children are likely to receive food benefits this summer through a newly permanent federal program.
 
Ashley Yancey feeds her 11 month-old daughter Olivia as two-year old Oliver Tolvert looks on at right Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023, in Douglasville, Ga. Yancey, who doesn't own a car, recently tried to find formula for her daughter at a Target about 30 miles from her home in and was stunned the location didn’t accept WIC. Often, her nearest WIC vendor is out of the product. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
WIC helps moms and kids eat. But finding what you need isn’t always easy
More than 6 million people receive benefits through the nation’s food assistance program for women, infants and children, which is known as WIC. But it’s not always easy to get what you might need.
 
FILE - This electron microscope image provided by the National Institutes of Health shows human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) virions, colorized blue, and anti-RSV F protein/gold antibodies, colorized yellow, shedding from the surface of human lung cells. RSV infections are rising sharply in some parts of the country, nearly filling hospital emergency departments in Georgia, Texas and some other states. To help counter the surge, federal officials on Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, announced they were releasing 77,000 doses of a new RSV shot for newborns that have been in short supply. (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH via AP, File)
RSV is straining some hospitals, and US officials are releasing more shots for newborns
RSV infections are rising sharply in some parts of the country, nearly filling hospital emergency departments in Georgia, Texas and some other states. Federal officials say they are taking action to help counter the surge.
 
Children's Defense Fund program director Graciela Camarena poses for a photo in Pharr, Texas, Monday, Nov. 13, 2023. Graciela assists community members with filling out SNAP and Medicaid forms for their families as the state reviews Texans' eligibility. Some 1 million people have already lost Medicaid coverage. (AP Photo/Michael Gonzalez)
The Biden administration is slow to act as millions are booted off Medicaid, advocates say
Error-ridden state reviews have purged millions of the poorest Americans from the Medicaid program in recent months.
 
This image provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023, shows counties, shaded in teal, where federal officials suggest offering syphilis testing to all sexually active people between the ages of 15 and 44. The Associated Press estimated the suggestion could affect tens of millions of people, based on federal data. (CDC via AP)
Syphilis cases in US newborns skyrocketed in 2022. Health officials suggest more testing
Syphilis cases in U.S. newborns again are on the rise. It has health officials calling for new measures to stop the increase, including encouraging millions of sexually active women of childbearing age and their partners to get tested.
 
Deneshun Graves, a disease intervention specialist with the Houston Health Department, fills out paperwork as she walks back to her pickup truck after trying to contact a client, who wasn't home in Houston on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. Disease intervention specialists often link infected mothers and their partners with care for syphilis to help prevent congenital syphilis in the baby. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
Syphilis and other STDs are on the rise. States lost millions of dollars to fight and treat them
State and local health departments across the U.S. recently lost the final two years of a $1 billion federal investment to treat and prevent sexually transmitted diseases.
 
Kayleigh Butler, a hair stylist, stands for a portrait at her studio in Atlanta on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. “Relaxers have taken an extreme decline ... as we became more knowledgeable about the effects of the relaxer on your hair and what it can do to your hair,” says Butler, who remembers getting relaxers when she was 5 years old. She added: “I think people just wanted to move away from that and live a healthier lifestyle.” (AP Photo/Kenya Hunter)
FDA is thinking about a ban on hair-straightening chemicals. Stylists say Black women have moved on
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is considering a ban on certain hair-straightening chemicals that have been used by Black women for years. Recent studies show the chemicals may increase the risk of uterine cancer.