Steve Coleman was kept for 21 months after his parole date because the state could not find a nursing home placement.A sick man was released from a New York prison on Friday after suing the state for keeping him long past his parole date.Steve Coleman, who is 67 and has advanced kidney disease, was granted parole in 2023 after serving 43 years for murder. But he remained incarcerated for 21 more months because the Department of Corrections could not find a nursing home to accommodate his dialysis care.Experts said that many paroled prisoners across the country are in a similar limbo, stuck inside because their state cannot find them medical care elsewhere. The problem is expected to become more acute as the prison population ages and needs more complex care.Mr. Coleman sued New York State in August, contending that he should be allowed to leave prison and determine his own medical care. A lower court ruled against him in September, and he appealed. Fourteen medical ethicists had written a letter supporting his release.The Wende Correctional Facility in upstate New York released him on Friday morning, according to Martha Rayner, a lawyer with the Parole Prep Project, a nonprofit that helps inmates apply for early release.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

The order affects roughly 80 markets in New York City and in several nearby counties. Gov. Kathy Hochul described it as a “proactive” step to help curb the spread of bird flu.All live bird markets in New York City and in several nearby counties must close temporarily in hopes of curbing the spread of bird flu, which was detected at some of the markets in the past week, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Friday.The order, which came from the state’s Department of Agriculture and Markets, affects the roughly 80 live markets in New York City and in Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Seven cases of bird flu had been detected at markets in Queens, the Bronx and Brooklyn.Markets with confirmed cases must get rid of their inventory, while those where bird flu has not been detected have three days to either sell or dispose of all their inventory. All markets must then be cleaned and disinfected before closing for at least five days.“Safeguarding public health is all about being proactive,” Governor Hochul said in a statement, adding that she would “continue to take these measured, common-sense steps” to try to stop the spread of the virus.H5N1, a form of bird flu, has affected more than 156 million commercial, backyard and wild birds in the United States since 2022. As bird flu has spread across the globe, public health experts have become increasingly concerned about live animal markets.There were around 70 live animal markets in New York City as of last year, some of which were near schools and residential buildings. Most of them butcher and sell chickens, duck and quail, while around a quarter also slaughter larger animals like sheep, goats, cows and pigs. They sell both to local restaurants and to the general public.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

Expecting a spouse to be both friend and lover is a relatively new concept. Some think it’s asking too much.Stephanie Lopez is effusive about her husband’s good qualities. He is a man of character, kindness and integrity, she said. He is a loving father and treats her with respect.But is he her best friend?“No!” said Ms. Lopez, who is 43 and lives on Hawaii’s Big Island.“I don’t have sex with my friends,” she explained. “I don’t pay bills with my friends. And I guarantee you, if I did, it would change the whole dynamic of the relationship.”The belief that your partner should be your best friend pops up everywhere, whether on social media or in the greeting card aisle. It’s not unusual to seek a romantic partner who fulfills more than the role of spouse, co-parent or lover, said Alexandra Solomon, a clinical psychologist and host of the “Reimagining Love” podcast.“We want somebody who sees us and gets us,” Dr. Solomon said. “Well, that’s the same darn thing we want in our friendships. We really are craving that same sense of affinity and admiration.”But is it unreasonable to expect your bedmate to be your best friend, or is it the highest form of intimacy?A Spouse’s Ever-Changing RoleJennifer Santiago, 42, and her husband are best friends.The couple, who began dating in high school, have broken up briefly over the years, taking time apart to get to know themselves and what they want out of life. But their underlying friendship brought them back together every time, said Ms. Santiago, who lives in Orlando.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

A 66-year-old man from New Hampshire became the fourth person to receive a pig’s kidney.Surgeons in Boston successfully transplanted the kidney of a genetically modified pig into a 66-year-old man with kidney failure last month, Massachusetts General Hospital announced on Friday.It was the fourth pig kidney transplant in the United States, and the first of three that will be done at Mass General as part of a new clinical trial sanctioned by the Food and Drug Administration. Two of the previous patients died shortly after the procedure, including one who was critically ill before the transplant.More than 100,000 people in the country are on waiting lists for transplant organs, mostly kidneys, but there is an acute shortage of human donor organs. Many people will die while waiting.To help alleviate the shortage, several biotech companies are editing the genes of pigs so that their organs will not be easily rejected by the human body.The new clinical trial, which is using organs produced by the biotech company eGenesis, is one of two studies of genetically engineered animal organs that got a green light from regulators earlier this week. The other, sponsored by United Therapeutics Corporation, will begin later this year with six patients, but that number could eventually rise to 50.The latest transplant recipient, Tim Andrews of Concord, N.H., had his surgery in late January and was well enough to be discharged a week later.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

6 hours agoMiya ChahalBBC News, Nottingham

15 minutes agoMichelle RobertsDigital health editor, BBC News

The data, which appeared fleetingly online on Wednesday, confirmed transmission in two households. Scientists called on the agency to release the full report.Cats that became infected with bird flu might have spread the virus to humans in the same household and vice versa, according to data that briefly appeared online in a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention but then abruptly vanished. The data appear to have been mistakenly posted but includes crucial information about the risks of bird flu to people and pets.In one household, an infected cat might have spread the virus to another cat and to a human adolescent, according to a copy of the data table obtained by The New York Times. The cat died four days after symptoms began. In a second household, an infected dairy farmworker appears to have been the first to show symptoms, and a cat then became ill two days later and died on the third day.The table was the lone mention of bird flu in a scientific report published on Wednesday that was otherwise devoted to air quality and the Los Angeles County wildfires. The table was not present in an embargoed copy of the paper shared with news media on Tuesday, and is not included in the versions currently available online. The table appeared briefly at around 1 p.m., when the paper was first posted, but it is unclear how or why the error might have occurred.The virus, called H5N1, is primarily adapted to birds, but it has been circulating in dairy cattle since early last year. H5N1 has also infected at least 67 Americans but does not yet have the ability to spread readily among people. Only one American, in Louisiana, has died of an H5N1 infection so far.The report was part of the C.D.C.’s prestigious Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, which, until two weeks ago, had regularly published every week since the first installment decades ago. But a communications ban on the agency had held the reports back, until the wildfire report was published on Wednesday.Experts said that the finding that cats might have passed the virus to people was not entirely unexpected. But they were alarmed that the finding had not yet been released to the public.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

Asanda Zondi received a startling phone call last Thursday, with orders to make her way to a health clinic in Vulindlela, South Africa, where she was participating in a research study that was testing a new device to prevent pregnancy and H.IV. infection.The trial was shutting down, a nurse told her. The device, a silicone ring inserted into her vagina, needed to be removed right away.When Ms. Zondi, 22, arrived at the clinic, she learned why: The U.S. Agency for International Development, which funded the study, had withdrawn financial support and had issued a stop-work order to all organizations around the globe that receive its money. The abrupt move followed an executive order by President Trump freezing all foreign aid for at least 90 days. Since then, the Trump administration has taken steps to dismantle the agency entirely.Ms. Zondi’s trial is one of dozens that have been abruptly frozen, leaving people around the world with experimental drugs and medical products in their bodies, cut off from the researchers who were monitoring them, and generating waves of suspicion and fear.The State Department, which now oversees U.S.A.I.D., replied to a request for comment by directing a reporter to USAID.gov, which no longer contains any information except that all permanent employees have been placed on administrative leave. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that the agency is wasteful and advances a liberal agenda that is counter to President Trump’s foreign policy.In interviews, scientists — who are forbidden by the terms of the stop-work order to speak with the news media — described agonizing choices: violate the stop-work orders and continue to care for trial volunteers, or leave them alone to face potential side effects and harm.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

16 hours agoMichael BuchananBBCTwo couples have told the BBC they went through with abortions after an NHS trust mistakenly told them their unborn babies had serious genetic conditions.

She left the agency because of its delay in approving the morning-after pill for over-the-counter use. Her resignation drew national media attention.Susan F. Wood, a women’s health expert who resigned in protest from the Food and Drug Administration in 2005, accusing the agency of knuckling under to politics by not approving over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill known as Plan B, died on Jan. 17 at her home in London. She was 66.The cause was glioblastoma multiforme, a brain cancer, said Richard Payne, her husband.Dr. Wood was assistant commissioner for women’s health at the F.D.A. during the presidency of George W. Bush when Plan B, a form of emergency contraception, became a flashpoint in the abortion wars.An F.D.A. advisory panel voted 28-0 in 2003 that the pill was safe for nonprescription use. But senior agency officials disregarded precedent and refused to approve over-the-counter sales.Plan B contains high levels of progestin, a hormone found in ordinary birth control pills, and agency scientists considered it to be a contraceptive. But abortion opponents argued that its use was tantamount to ending pregnancies. They further warned that ready access would lead to promiscuous behavior by teenagers, though no data supported that claim.Dr. Wood and others believed that having emergency contraception available without a prescription would mean fewer unwanted pregnancies and fewer abortions.In August 2005, the F.D.A. commissioner, Lester M. Crawford, announced that the agency could not reach a decision on whether to authorize over-the-counter use of Plan B and did not expect to reach one soon.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.