Health Headlines for Friday, February 26

State upholds rule ordering unvaccinated health care workers to don masks

Albany Times Union

A midlevel appellate court has upheld the state Health Department’s 2013 order that health care workers get flu vaccinations or wear masks around patients once the flu is declared to be prevalent in New York.

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How a heroin epidemic swept Buffalo’s suburbs — and the rest of the nation

Mashable

David Edick had always been close to his son, Benjamin. When he was a little boy, Benjamin enjoyed challenging his dad to Super Mario — and beating him at the video game.

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New York Health Department fails to inspect dozens of diagnostic, treatment facilities on time

New York Daily News

Dozens of diagnostic and treatment facilities in New York are past due for state inspections, the Daily News has learned.

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Ambulance company controlled by ‘Wonder Woman of Wall Street’ declares bankruptcy

Crain’s New York Business

A Brooklyn ambulance company controlled by funds affiliated with Lynn Tilton’s private-equity firm filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy yesterday, disrupting the city’s emergency-response system in a move that could result in the loss of 1,200 jobs.

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More Overdose Deaths from Anxiety Drugs

New York Times/Blog

Fatal prescription-drug overdoses in the United States have increased sharply in recent years. But while most of the deaths have involved opioid painkillers like oxycodone, a new study suggests that anti-anxiety medications now are playing an outsize role in overdose deaths.

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Carestream Health inks deal with Alibaba subsidiary

Rochester Business Journal

Carestream Health Inc. has struck a deal with Alibaba Health Information Technologies Ltd. to create an Internet-based medical-image sharing service in China, Carestream officials said Thursday.

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