Larkin Page-Jacobs

State Sen. Matt Smith (D-Allegheny/Washington) is introducing legislation that would mandate insurance companies reimburse people with diabetes for pain management. 

Smith noted that while patients are reimbursed for other diabetes-related costs, treatment for neuropathy is not one of them.

"Patients who have it experience intense aching, tingling, burning and numbness," he said. "What's really problematic about it is if it's left unmanaged, the condition can worsen to the point where the individual will need hospitalization or further treatment by way of an operation."

The "Community Supported Agriculture" or CSA model is taking on more and more iterations.

Traditionally, a CSA offers subscriptions to locally grown produce, but it was recently announced that a visual art CSA would be available April 30. Now a theater CSA is in the offing as well.

The New Hazlett Theater on the north side is selling CSA shares that include six performances every other month, from August to June.

Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA, has become common in many cities.

CSA typically refers to a subscription service for fresh produce from local farmers, but a new initiative in Pittsburgh is putting a twist on the concept and replacing “agriculture” with “art.”

A Community Supported Agriculture package might include lettuce, apples, and peppers. But with Community Supported Art, subscribers will unpack a box of sculptures, photographs, drawings or paintings.

There is a house inside a building at the Pittsburgh Veterans Affair’s Aspinwall campus.

The house has everything one would expect – a doorbell, cable, flatware, a bedroom. There’s even a garage (but with half of a car).

The 1,100 square foot house, called MyHome, is a part of the VA’s Community Living Center, and it's designed to help patients recovering from physical or mental injuries transition safely back to their homes.

But that transition takes practice, according to VA Pittsburgh Rehab Site Supervisor Jason Fay.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is awarding $2.2 million in grants to help counties combat the spread of West Nile Virus this year.

Department spokeswoman Amanda Witman said most people infected with the mosquito born disease will never experience symptoms because their immune systems shut the virus down. But for others, she warned, it can be dangerous.

"This virus can develop into West Nile Fever or West Nile Encephalitis - both of which are infections that cause brain inflammation and in the most severe cases, death," Witman said.

Update: Weekend Squirrel Hill Tunnel Closure Canceled Due to Inclement Weather

You know it's winter in Pittsburgh when your car is getting beat up by pot-holes, the streets are chalky with salt, and water main breaks proliferate. But what exactly is going on below the pavement?

Clogged pipes, flooded basements and sheets of ice on roadways are some of the visible signs of water main breaks. But many leaks and breaks go undetected - including sewer line breaks which filter through the soil and along side the pipes for months or years.

Monday, April 16, 2012

As men and women return from military tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, they go through a significant adjustment as they rejoin civilian life. Part of that adjustment is figuring how to communicate their experience at war. This can be especially challenging for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who are trying to build new, romantic relationships.