Animal cruelty ballot measure is invalid, Colorado Supreme Court rules
The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday rejected a ballot measure that would have placed substantial limits on the state’s ranching and meat production industry, ruling that Initiative 16 violates the state’s single-subject requirement. Initiative 16 would have gone on the 2022 ballot. Its goal was to add livestock and fish to the state’s animal cruelty […]
U.S. hitting encouraging milestones on virus deaths and shots
COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. have dipped below 300 a day for the first time since the early days of the disaster in March 2020, while the drive to put shots in arms approached another encouraging milestone Monday: 150 million Americans fully vaccinated. The coronavirus was the third leading cause of death in the U.S. […]
Top U.S. health official Xavier Becerra visits Colorado to promote vaccines
DENVER — U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra visited a mobile vaccine clinic near Denver on Friday to promote COVID-19 shots among underserved communities of color that have some of the nation’s lowest vaccination rates. He also met with Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, getting briefly interrupted by the governor’s dog, Gia, and another […]
Colorado counties with higher vaccination rates have fewer COVID-19 cases — most of the time
Parts of Colorado where more people are vaccinated have fewer cases of COVID-19 overall, but some counties where few are inoculated appear to be lucky in avoiding a spike this spring. The question is whether that luck will hold if their residents continue to go unvaccinated — especially with more-contagious variants lurking in the state. Mesa […]
How a common food ingredient can take a wrong turn, leading to arthritis
A University of Colorado Department of Medicine faculty member says she and her colleagues have identified the means in which bacteria in the digestive system can break down tryptophan in the diet into an inflammatory chemical that primes the immune system towards arthritis. The research was co-authored by Kristine Kuhn, MD, PhD, Scoville Endowed Chair […]
Colorado’s Ban on ‘Abortion Reversal’ Tied Up in Court Battle
A fight is raging in Colorado over whether or not the state can ban medication abortion reversal — a procedure that mainstream medicine says isn’t backed by science. Last month, a Trump-appointed federal judge blocked the state from enforcing a ban on the so-called treatment while he considers a legal challenge brought by the Bella […]
Colorado to Collect Providers’ Sexual Orientation, Ethnicity Data
Clinicians in Colorado will soon be asked — though not required — to give the state demographic information that includes their ethnicity and sexual orientation as part of an effort to build more culturally diverse provider networks. Under a rule that took effect on March 2, Colorado Options — the state’s Affordable Care Act exchange […]
Researchers discover that anti-malaria drugs can fight pulmonary disease
A research team at Colorado State University has discovered that drugs used to treat malaria are also effective at treating a pulmonary disease similar to tuberculosis. Their findings were featured on the cover of the Feb. 23 issue of Science Translational Medicine. The study is a significant development in the fight against infections caused by […]
Colorado COVID-19 vaccinations rose after lottery; Boulder County man is third winner
A Boulder County man is $1 million richer, but the state may have notched a bigger win after Colorado’s new COVID-19 vaccinations rose for the first time in two months. Pete Vegas, who runs a rice-processing business based in Boulder, is the third person to win the state’s $1 million lottery, which is open to […]
Common colds return as fewer Coloradans wear masks and socially distance
As more Coloradans remove their masks and begin socializing again, there is another aspect of pre-pandemic life that is remerging: common colds. Health systems in the state are seeing an uptick patients with non-COVID respiratory viruses that mostly disappeared during the pandemic as people stayed home more often and wore masks. The state health department […]