Free Republic

"The Evil Dead" star Bruce Campbell announced he's been diagnosed with cancer and will be canceling upcoming appearances. On Monday night, Campbell took to X to share that he has a "treatable" but not "curable" type of cancer. "I apologize if that was a shock — it was for me too," he wrote. "I’m posting this, because professionally, a few things will have to change — appearances and cons and work in general need to take [a] back seat to treatment," Campbell continued. Bruce Campbell holds an axe in a shot from "The Evil Dead" "The Evil Dead" star Bruce...

A three-member panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has allowed the U.S. military to reinstate its enlistment ban for HIV-positive people, ruling on Wednesday that the ban was based on “rational concerns.” The Department of Defense (DOD) has a “rational basis” to exclude people with HIV from enlisting in the armed forces, Judge Paul V. Niemeyer wrote in his opinion, even those with undetectable viral loads whose treatment renders them unable to transmit the virus. The ruling reverses a Virginia district court’s 2024 injunction blocking the DOD’s enlistment ban, which had been in effect since the Pentagon instituted...

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced on Sunday that he would be “introducing federal legislation to make the Pride Flag a congressionally authorized symbol.” In a post on X, Schumer criticized President Donald Trump for attacking “not just the LGBTQ community,” but everyone who cares “about pride and equality” in New York City (NYC). Schumer added that he was “proud to stand with” people such as New York State Rep. Tony Simone (D) and New York State Sen. Erik Bottcher (D) to make his announcement. “The Stonewall Inn is sacred ground,” Schumer wrote. “Last week, Donald Trump attacked not...

VD for Valentine’s Day? In case you needed a reason to stay celibate this weekend, there’s a sexually transmitted fungus making the rounds and leaving its mark. Experts say the public should be aware of the nation’s “largest known outbreak” of Trichophyton mentagrophytes genotype VII. Known as TMVII, the nasty business is the only known fungal-based sexually transmitted infection. Cases of TMVII have been on the rise in Europe for the past several years, especially among men who have sex with men. In 2024, an NYC man became the first reported US case of TMVII, and it seems the icky...

A federal agent from Severna Park who may have infected his wife, son and nephew with the swine flu contracted the flu virus while on duty with President Barack Obama earlier this month in Mexico City. The man, who asked not be identified, was on duty as part of a protection detail with the president and other U.S. officials, he said. The agent and the president were part of a museum visit there with Felipe Solis, a distinguished archaeologist who showed Obama around the city's anthropology museum during his visit to Mexico earlier this month. Solis died the following week...

Time for Ozempic to walk the plank? Top dietitians in Australia this week are waving a red flag about an unforeseen impact of the GLP-1 class of weight-loss drugs, including Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro. In a new systematic review of existing research, led by professor Clare Collins of the Newcastle School of Health Sciences in New South Wales, Australia, it appears that very few global trials of the drugs have taken into consideration what and how much patients are eating while using them. This, experts have said, means many patients have been functionally malnourished — sometimes developing serious vitamin deficiencies...

Alamelu, a gray-haired woman who wears a bright pink sari and a gap-tooth smile, has lived in the Kalvari Nagar leprosy colony in India for 22 years and another colony before that. Her family sent her away when she was only 12 years old after she was diagnosed with what is likely the world's most misunderstood and stigmatized disease. They feared her presence in the home would tarnish the family's reputation and her siblings would never be married. Alamelu, who is now 75, never saw her family again. Like most residents of Kalvari Nagar, this woman was cured of leprosy...

A popular honeymoon destination is the site of the Pacific’s fastest-growing HIV epidemic, with officials pointing to rising meth use as a key driver. In Fiji, HIV/AIDS cases are projected to double this year to more than 3,000, according to UNAIDS and Fiji’s Ministry of Health. Officials say drug use is fueling the surge across the Pacific island nation. In December, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a rapid assessment detecting unsafe injecting practices.

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 4, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Two people held at a large immigrant family detention center in Dilley, Texas, have tested positive for measles, officials said. The South Texas Family Residential Center, located about 70 miles south of San Antonio, houses roughly 1,100 adults and children. After the cases were confirmed Jan. 31, federal officials said they isolated anyone who may have been exposed and limited movement inside the building. “Medical staff is continuing to monitor the detainees’ conditions and will take appropriate and active steps to prevent further infection,” said Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary at the U.S. Department...

The No. 1 job of a mayor, above everything else, is to keep his or her city functioning. Yet with people dying on the cold streets of New York and trash building up in parts of the city, New York is by no means functioning. Not even close. The snow and frigid temps have tested Gotham’s socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani and, alas, he has not risen to the occasion. Rather, he’s left the city a mess. Everest-size mountains of garbage have popped up. Unremoved snow, ice and road salt have damaged Con Edison electrical equipment, contributing to power outages. Most...

Eight-foot piles of rat-infested trash are choking the streets around Gracie Mansion — which has gotten white-glove shoveling treatment as Mayor Zohran Mamdani crows he can’t “imagine how it could get better’’ in the city. While Hizzoner’s Upper East Side neighbors are forced to trudge through garbage-plagued roads, roaming rodents and mounds of snow tainted with dog pee a full week after Winter Storm Fern, the sidewalks outside the lefty mayor’s digs on East 88th Street are squeaky clean. “Clean as a whistle for the mayor,” Rivers said. “Look at this side.” “This side” is marred by massive piles of...

The Pentagon has ordered a pause on training new recruits living with HIV. What’s more, military leadership is considering reinstating a ban that prohibits Americans who are HIV positive from enlisting in the Armed Services altogether, reports CNN. A decision is likely to come down “in the next few weeks.”

For the week ending Dec. 27, the CDC reported that nearly 1 in 10 outpatient visits nationwide — 8.2% — were for flu-like illnesses. That’s the highest logged since the CDC started tracking such visits in 1997. The flu has accounted for more than 11 million illnesses this season and 120,000 hospitalizations.

Scientists have identified why certain lung cancer cells become highly resistant to treatment after developing mutations in a key gene called EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor). In a study, the researchers reveal a previously unknown survival mechanism and demonstrated that disrupting it can shrink tumors in laboratory models. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths globally. Many cases are driven by mutations in the EGFR gene. These mutations are found in up to 40–60% of adenocarcinoma. The researchers screened more than 21,000 genes to identify what protects these mutant proteins from being broken down. They discovered that cancer...

People who have had mpox (also known as monkeypox) may experience persistent physical effects, such as skin discoloration and scarring, as well as ongoing psychological and social impact, according to a study published in Annals of Internal Medicine. In an analysis of more than 150 people who had mpox during the large outbreak in 2022, nearly 60% reported lasting physical aftereffects, 49% reported ongoing issues related to their social life and 45% reported increased depression 11 to 18 months later.

"What should I eat?" is perhaps the most common question patients with inflammatory bowel disease ask their doctors. Now, new research provides one potential answer. Their national, randomized controlled clinical trial found that a short-term, calorie-restrictive diet significantly improved both physical symptoms and biological indicators of mild-to-moderate Crohn's disease. The findings were notable, demonstrating significant declines in objective markers of inflammation in biologic samples alongside improvements in clinical symptoms. The study compared the symptoms and biological indicators of patients with mild-to-moderate Crohn's disease as they either followed a fasting mimicking diet or ate their normal diet for three consecutive months....

An outbreak of deadly bacteria at a Bay Area homeless encampment has sparked urgent calls for action in Los Angeles, with officials warning the disease may already be circulating in the city. The bacterial disease leptospirosis was found in rats at encampments in the hippie college town of Berkeley, leading health officials there to issue an urgent warning to the homeless to clear out. Officials told them to relocate at least a third of a mile from the “red zone” encompassing several square blocks as soon as possible. The warning comes as authorities attempted remove the encampment last year but...

CUBA has been overwhelmed by a disease known as “the virus” – leaving hospitals on the verge of collapse as the Communist regime faces accusations of a cover-up. High fevers, red spots, peeling skin, swollen joints, vomiting and diarrhoea are among symptoms crippling the island’s population – but Cubans have no idea what they are suffering from. his week the Canadian government announced health screenings and quarantine of up to seven days for those coming back from the country. And in December, Spain told its citizens to stay away from Cuba due to a “serious epidemic”. Known just as “the...

The infamous Black Death -- a pandemic that killed as many as one third to one half of Europeans within just a few years -- may have been aided in its devastation by an unknown volcanic eruption.That's the hypothesis presented in research published December 4 in Communications Earth & Environment, which argues that the eruption triggered several seasons of climate instability and crop failures. That instability, in turn, forced several Italian states to import grain stores from new sources -- specifically, from regions surrounding the Black Sea. Riding along on those grain stores, the researchers posit, were fleas infected with...

"...the New York City Health Department warns that “progress toward ending the HIV epidemic in New York City has slowed at a time when federal funding for HIV testing, treatment and prevention is under significant threat.” ... "...,the health department reports that 1,791 people were newly diagnosed in 2024. This marks a 5.4% increase from 2023. In total, the surveillance data show that 136,034 people report living with HIV. Of those, 68,600 have AIDS. (New York City’s population is nearly 8.5 million.)"