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Labor and delivery units are losing money and struggling to find staff, in rural areas and large cities alike.Over 500 hospitals have closed their labor and delivery departments since 2010, according to a large new study, leaving most rural hospitals and more than a third of urban hospitals without obstetric care.Those closures, the study found, were slightly offset by the opening of new units in about 130 hospitals. Even so, the share of hospitals without maternity wards increased every year, according to the study, published on Wednesday in JAMA, a prominent medical journal. Maternal deaths remained persistently high over that period, spiking during the pandemic.Because its data runs only through 2022, the study does not account for the additional challenges that hospitals have faced since the Supreme Court case that overturned Roe v. Wade that year and led many states to restrict abortion. States with abortion bans have experienced a sharp decline in their obstetrician work force.“We’re more than a decade into a severe maternal mortality crisis in the United States, and access to hospital-based maternity care has continued to decline over that entire time period,” said Katy Kozhimannil, the study’s lead author and a professor of health policy at the University of Minnesota.Other research from Dr. Kozhimannil and her colleagues has found that the closures of rural maternity wards can lead to an increase in births in emergency rooms or outside of hospitals.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.

Getty ImagesCertain types of porridge, crumpets and breakfast cereals are included in a list of products that fall under a new junk food advertising ban.

The executive, Brian Thompson, was shot in the chest in what people briefed on the investigations said appeared to be a targeted attack.The chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, one of the nation’s largest health insurers, was fatally shot in the chest in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday morning, according to a police report and two people familiar with the matter.The report said that the executive, Brian Thompson, 50, was shot just after 6:45 a.m. at 1335 Sixth Avenue, the address for the New York Hilton Midtown, according to the report. Mr. Thompson was taken to Mount Sinai West in critical condition.Police officers are still searching for the gunman, who fled east on foot along Sixth Avenue, the report said. He was wearing a cream-colored jacket, a black face mask and a gray backpack.The police believe Mr. Thompson was targeted in the attack, which happened during the company’s annual investor conference in New York City.Mr. Thompson had arrived early to prepare, according to the people familiar with the investigation. The gunman apparently knew which door Mr. Thompson was going to enter and shot him several times from mere feet away, then fled. The gunman, the people said, ran, jumped on a bicycle and pedaled away.Just after 9 a.m. on Wednesday, yellow caution tape closed off the section of West 54th Street just outside the hotel entrance. Inside, the morning continued as usual, with guests ordering coffee and arriving with luggage.The only sign of trouble was a small group of police officers huddled in front of a check-in sign for the conference.Mr. Thompson was promoted to chief executive of UnitedHealthcare in April 2021, heading one unit of the larger UnitedHealth Group. He lives in Minnesota.This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

Cheshire ConstabularyLucy Letby has been interviewed by police in prison under caution as part of ongoing investigations into more baby deaths at two hospitals, Cheshire Constabulary has confirmed.

Anna HillA woman who suffered debilitating migraines for nine years says her symptoms have gone, after paying for “risky” surgery.

Getty ImagesAbout 300 hospice inpatient beds are currently closed or out of use in England, hospice leaders have warned.

BBCViolence and abuse against paramedics and emergency call handlers is on the rise, with reported cases up by more than a third since 2019, the BBC has found.

Federal health agencies closed their investigations into the bacterial outbreak that sickened 104 people and was linked to onions on the fast-food chain’s signature Quarter Pounders.Health officials have closed their investigations into an E. coli outbreak linked to raw onions on McDonald’s Quarter Pounder hamburgers that sickened more than a hundred people, the Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday.In total, 104 people from 14 states were sickened from the contaminated food and 34 were hospitalized. One older person in Colorado died.Officials said there did not appear to be a “continued food safety concern,” because McDonald’s had not served slivered onions — which investigators determined to be the “likely source of contamination”— on the Quarter Pounders for more than a month. The onions were recalled. And in many states, Quarter Pounders were removed from the menu altogether for several weeks.There have not been any new illnesses since McDonald’s decided to remove the onions from its menu on Oct. 22, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Evidence linking the onions to the food-borne illnesses was limited. According to the F.D.A., one sample from the recalled onions supplied by Taylor Farms, a large vegetable and fruit grower, and an environmental sample from an onion grower in Washington State tested positive for E. coli. But those samples did not match the bacterial strain found in those customers who became ill, the agency said.Still, the F.D.A. investigation determined that the yellow onions were the likely source of the outbreak based on interviews with those who were sickened and from information provided by the distributors of the product. Of the people who recalled what they ate, roughly 84 percent had a menu item with slivered onions.McDonald’s identified Taylor Farms as its onion supplier in the Mountain West, and added that it would indefinitely discontinue the use of Taylor Farms onions from its Colorado Springs facility.“The process to reach this point has at times felt long, challenging and uncertain,” Michael Gonda, McDonald’s North America chief impact officer, and Cesar Piña, the chief supply chain officer, said in a statement. “But it is critical that public officials examine every possible angle, and we are deeply grateful that they moved quickly to identify and, in partnership with McDonald’s, contain the issue.”Illnesses related to the outbreak were first reported in late October, prompting McDonald’s to recall its Quarter Pounder hamburgers in 10 states. Other fast-food chains including Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut and Burger King also stopped offering onions in their menu items as a precautionary measure.McDonald’s is now facing lawsuits from several customers claiming to have fallen ill from the outbreak. Spokesmen said the company was “laser-focused” on regaining its customers’ trust.

The new Covid corruption commissioner has started an investigation into personal protective equipment (PPE) fraud.

Many patients are confused about what their surgeons are planning. Here’s how to get the details.The most common reason for a hysterectomy, the removal of the uterus, is to address chronic sources of pain and bleeding that can disrupt daily life — including fibroids, endometriosis, menstrual disorders and pelvic organ prolapse. A rising reason is a patient’s desire to align anatomy with lived gender.Despite being called “elective” by doctors, the procedure can be life-changing, and in some cases, even lifesaving. But hysterectomies are typically not emergency surgeries — meaning patients have time to ask questions and weigh all their options. To make sure you know exactly what you’re agreeing to, here are five questions to ask your doctor.Can you go over the reproductive organs and explain which ones you will be removing?Dr. Karen Tang, who is a gynecological surgeon and the author of the book “It’s Not Hysteria,” about reproductive health, begins her consultations by sketching the reproductive system out on a whiteboard.Then, she explains which organs she plans to remove and why. When she and a patient go over a surgical consent form, she translates any technical terms into lay language. For instance, “total laparoscopic hysterectomy with bilateral salpingectomy” becomes “removal of the uterus, cervix, and fallopian tubes, leaving the ovaries behind.”If a visual helps you understand, bring in a diagram yourself and ask your doctor to refer to it. If your consent form does not include plain language, have your doctor define unfamiliar terms or write nonmedical definitions on the form. Your surgeon should be able to explain why each organ is to be removed, and the risks and benefits of each option.If the words “partial” or “total” come up, ask your doctor to slow down and explain exactly what they mean. In general, surgeons should avoid these terms, because they are used inconsistently, Dr. Tang said.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.