Surgeon enhances convenience of office-based surgeries

February 4, 2023

WVU MEDICINE WVU Medicine orthopaedic hand, elbow, and shoulder surgeon Rd. Shafic Sraj offers patients undergoing office-based surgery the convenience of virtual post-operative care through MyWVUChart, WVU Medicine’s online patient portal. Sraj saw adopting an app-based follow-up process as the natural progression to the wide-awake local anesthesia no tourniquet, WALANT, procedures performed in the office setting. Patients who are comfortable using the app are offered the option to use its secure messaging feature for their follow up after routine, low-risk procedures. “We ...

Last abortion clinic in W.Va. files federal suit

February 3, 2023

Women’s Health Center of West Virginia, which had been the state’s last abortion clinic, has filed a federal lawsuit over the ban passed last fall. The plaintiffs are asking the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia to issue an injunction to block the entire ban while the full case is considered by the court. The suit contends West Virginia’s law is irrational and unconstitutional. “Every person deserves to access the critical care they need, but this law pushes essential abortion care out of reach,” said Katie Quiñonez, Women’s Health Center ...

State senate unanimously approves school safety, U.S. motto bills, sends them to the House

January 30, 2023

MORGANTOWN — The state Senate sailed through a series of bills on Monday, passing them all unanimously with no debate — including a school protection bill and one to put a framed copy of the U.S. motto in every government building. All bills head to the House of Delegates. SB 282 ...

Senate overwhelmingly approves bill to change annual vehicle inspections to every 2 years

January 27, 2023

MORGANTOWN — Annual vehicle inspections could change to every two years under a bill the Senate sent to the House on Friday. SB 254 changes the annual inspection to biannual and raises the sticker price from $3 to $6 to reflect that. The total price, including the sticker, would go ...

Senate panel OKs bill to allow medical expense deductions from state income taxes; and one to permit health care sharing ministries

January 23, 2023

MORGANTOWN – A bill to allow state residents to deduct medical expenses from their sate income taxes left senators who voted for it wondering how much it might cost the state. Those senators also approved a bill to permit Health Care Sharing Ministries – a faith-based health insurance ...

Spaghetti dinner to aid single mom with leiomyosarcoma

January 21, 2023

BY LISA ELLISON Connie Johns, a single mom, is battling leiomyosarcoma. Following a hysterectomy over the summer, Johns continued to have pain. Her cousin, Alexis Buzzo and Buzzo’s mom, a retired nurse, were alarmed at the symptoms and the lab results Johns had shared.However, no one expected it to be such a catastrophic diagnosis. “An ER visit with imaging tests found the tumor in October 2022,” Buzzo said, adding, “the oncologists at Ruby have been amazing.” Buzzo, her grandmother and another cousin have stepped in to help Johns as much as they can. Buzzo, ...