Childbirth is a harrowing ordeal, and it’s being made worse by mistreatment from health care providers during labor, a new study says. More than one in every eight women are mistreated during childbirth, researchers found. Most commonly, women’s requests for help during labor were refused or ignored, results show. Nearly 8% of women said this…  read on >  read on >

Three anti-smoking groups announced Tuesday that they have sued the U.S. government yet again after it missed its latest deadline for enacting a ban on menthol cigarettes. This is the second lawsuit that the plaintiffs — the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council, Action on Smoking and Health and the National Medical Association — have…  read on >  read on >

Cutting back on late-night alcohol sales might help curb crime in violence-ridden neighborhoods, a new report claims. Murders dropped by half (51%) within a month after one Baltimore neighborhood limited alcohol hours of sale for bars and taverns, researchers report April 1 in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. Further, violent crimes declined in the surrounding…  read on >  read on >

Vaccine protection against mpox fades quickly in the human immune system, even in people who’ve received the full two-dose regimen, a new real-world study shows. Antibody levels fell to low or near zero within the first few months of getting the vaccine, unless the person had previously received a smallpox vaccine, scientists reported Saturday at…  read on >  read on >

Some pain-relieving skin products contain potentially harmful doses of the numbing agent lidocaine and should be avoided, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns. These creams, gels, sprays and soaps are marketed for topical use to relieve the pain of cosmetic procedures like microdermabrasion, laser hair removal, tattooing and piercing, the FDA said. The agency…  read on >  read on >

Ever immersed yourself in a book and lost all sense of the time and place you’re currently in? That’s how reading can meld with mindfulness, one neuropsychologist explains. The experience can bring real mental health benefits, said Dr. Samantha Henry, an assistant professor of neurology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. “Reading is a…  read on >  read on >