Health

(NEW YORK) — With a busy travel season approaching, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning that additional measles cases in the U.S. can be expected over the next few months.

The agency sent the alert to state and local health departments, reminding them to report measles cases to the CDC within 24 hours and to have measles cases reported in hospitals and to public health authorities.

The CDC has encouraged public health departments to conduct contact tracing for exposed individuals as well as perform outreach to under-vaccinated communities. 

“With continued measles transmission in areas across North America and expected increases in international and domestic travel and large events during spring and summer, additional measles cases are anticipated in the coming months,” the alert reads.

Parents should ensure they and their loved ones are protected against measles before traveling, the CDC says. This includes getting vaccinated against measles at least two weeks before leaving.

The measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is typically given in two doses, the first at 12 to 15 months old and the second between ages four and six. One dose is 93% effective and two doses are 97% effective against measles, according to the CDC.

Those traveling to or living in an outbreak area may be eligible for an earlier vaccine between 6 and 11 months old, the CDC says. This additional shot would be followed by the typical two doses for a total of three doses.

After returning home from travel from an area with measles, travelers should look out for measles symptoms for three weeks and contact their doctor if they experience symptoms or think they may have been exposed, the CDC advises.

The alert comes as cases continue to be recorded across the U.S. So far this year, there have been 1,782 cases nationwide, according to CDC data.

Cases have been reported in 36 states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

About 92% of cases are among people who are unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown, CDC data shows.

Meanwhile, 4% of cases are among those who have received just one dose of the MMR vaccine and 4% of cases are among those who received the recommended two doses, according to the CDC.

Last year, the U.S. recorded 2,288 measles cases, which is the highest number of national cases in 33 years, according to the CDC.

It also marked the first U.S. deaths recorded from measles in a decade, two among school-aged unvaccinated children in Texas and a third of an unvaccinated adult in New Mexico.

More than a year ago, health officials confirmed that cases of measles were cropping up in a small town in western Texas. It’s unclear if those cases are linked to those reported in other states; if so, it would mean the U.S. has seen a year of continuous transmission.

If it’s determined that the U.S. has experienced 12 months of continuous measles transmission, it could lead to a loss of the country’s elimination status that was earned in 2000. Measles would once again be considered endemic or constantly circulating.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — As heart, kidney and metabolic problems progress to more advanced stages, a person’s risk of developing several cancers also rises sharply, a new study finds.

Cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome is a disorder that occurs when heart disease, kidney problems and metabolic issues including obesity and diabetes all happen together, according to the American Heart Association.

About one in three U.S. adults have at least three risk factors for CKM syndrome, the AHA says.

Researchers used a claims database in Japan that included individuals with available health check-up data and insurance claims between April 2014 and August 2023.

People diagnosed with stage 3 CKM syndrome at the start of the study were 25% more likely to be diagnosed with one of 16 different cancers four years later in comparison to those with early CKM syndrome, according to the study published Monday in the journal Circulation.

Those who were diagnosed with stage 4 CKM syndrome had a 30% increased likelihood of having a cancer diagnosis four years later. Those diagnosed with stage 1 or stage 2 of the condition had a less than 5% chance of cancer diagnosis in four years.

“The study findings suggest that it is important to consider not only cardiovascular disease risk, but also cancer risk in people with CKM syndrome,” Dr. Hidehiro Kaneko, the study’s lead author and associate professor in the department of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Tokyo in Japan, said in a press release.

The study results accounted for age, gender and lifestyle factors including smoking, alcohol use and weight.

Individual symptoms such as high blood pressure are often used to determine certain cancer risks, but this study used a more patient-centered classification such as CKM syndrome staging as a predictor for certain cancers, according to the authors.

“CKM syndrome represents a complex interplay among the cardiovascular, kidney and metabolic systems, where dysfunction in one area may trigger or exacerbate dysfunction in others,” Kaneko said.

“Dysfunction in each of these systems is independently associated with cancer risk due to shared risk factors,” he continued. “This study suggests that the accumulation of risk factors within the framework of CKM syndrome may contribute to the development of various types of cancer.”

Because the study is a retrospective observational study, meaning it analyzes existing data, it can only speak to association between CKM syndrome and certain cancers, not causality.

Additionally, because the study was conducted in Japan, which has a very homogenous population, further research would be needed to replicate the results among the U.S. population, which is more diverse.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on Friday it is issuing national priority vouchers to three companies to help fast-track the review of certain psychedelic medications.

The companies are studying psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression and major depressive disorder and methylone for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

“These medications have the potential to address the nation’s mental health crisis, including conditions like treatment-resistant depression, alcoholism and other serious mental health and substance abuse conditions,” FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary said in a press release.

“As this field moves forward, it is critical that their development is grounded in sound science and rigorous clinical evidence,” the statement continued. “We owe it to our nation’s veterans and all Americans who are suffering from these conditions to evaluate these potential therapies with urgency.”

The agency also announced it is allowing an early phase clinical study of noribogaine hydrochloride, the principal psychoactive substance of the drug ibogaine, to move forward following an Investigational New Drug submission.

The announcement comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order over the weekend directing the FDA to expedite its review of certain psychedelics.

The order aims to accelerate research and approval of psychedelic-based therapies to help treat mental health conditions including PTSD, depression and addiction.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche signed an order on Thursday reclassifying state-licensed medical marijuana as a less dangerous drug.

The order moves marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III, putting state-licensed medical marijuana in the same category as some pain medications, ketamine and testosterone.

While this change aligns federal guidelines with many state laws, marijuana is still illegal at the federal level. It does not remove cannabis from the federal controlled substance list, legalize recreational use nationwide or allow unregulated sales similar to tobacco and alcohol.

However, the move could allow for expanded research and ease many of the tax and regulatory rules placed on the cannabis industry.

“These actions will enable more targeted, rigorous research into marijuana’s safety and efficacy, expanding patients’ access to treatments and empowering doctors to make better-informed healthcare decisions,” Blanche wrote in a statement on X.

President Donald Trump announced late last year that his administration would seek to reclassify marijuana, but not legalize it for medical or recreational use under federal statutes. Over the weekend, the president appeared to express frustration that the administration was slow-walking the effort.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Nearly half of Americans — 152.3 million people — now live in places with unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution (PM2.5), two of the most dangerous air pollutants.

The American Lung Association’s 2026 “State of the Air” report finds that more than 129 million people live in counties with failing grades for ozone pollution. This type of pollution forms when sunlight interacts with compounds emitted from cars, industry and chemicals, creating harmful ground-level ozone in the air.

About 62 million people live in counties with failing grades for daily particle pollution spikes, which consist of tiny particles in the air produced by sources like car exhaust, power plants, construction, fires and dust, according to the report.

Exposure to dirty air was not equal, the report found.

People of color were more than twice as likely to live in areas failing all major pollution measures, according to the report.

“[In] areas where people have fewer socioeconomic resources … there’s a snowball effect because many of these areas may have less access to healthy food, less safe places to work out outside and less access to health care,” Dr. Afif El-Hasan, a board-certified pulmonologist and an American Lung Association spokesperson, told ABC News.

Many of these areas with high pollution are also underserved areas or have lower socioeconomic means, El-Hasan said.

Breathing in contaminated air not only makes people sicker; it affects family dynamics, finances and just about every other aspect of life, the report’s authors say.

Children are disproportionately affected as well. About 33.5 million of them are living in counties that received failing grades for at least one major air pollutant.

“Children who grow up in areas with polluted air are going to have decreased lung development compared to children who grow up having been exposed to clean air,” El-Hasan said. “Ultimately that leads to adults who have lower lung capacity than they would otherwise have — and that’s not reversible.”

And because the pollution compromises the body’s defenses, infections like the cold, flu and even COVID may be more severe in people who live in high-pollution areas, the findings suggested.

Despite decades of progress under the Clean Air Act, which was signed into law in 1970, the report found that air pollution is intensifying in many parts of the country.

Ozone pollution has worsened and now affects more people than in the past.

Climate change helps drive this trend by fueling extreme heat, drought and wildfires, the study suggested. And, while particle pollution has shown slight improvements, it still exposes far more people than historic low levels seen in the mid-2010s.

If you live in a place with poor air quality, there are steps you can take to protect your health, according to the American Lung Association.

Limit time outdoors on poor air quality days and check daily conditions. Use a high-quality mask like an N95 respirator and keep indoor air clean with filtration when pollution levels are high. Exercise indoors on bad air quality days.

Studies have also shown that staying up to date on vaccines, including flu and COVID shots, can also offer some protection.

Additionally, it’s critical the U.S. maintains the gains it has made on air quality over decades of stronger public health policies, El-Hasan said.

“Air does not respect borders — it will go everywhere,” El-Hasan said. “People should understand that what they do in terms of making sure policies are protecting air locally — it doesn’t just help you. If we are all helping keep our local air clean, it will help the rest of the nation as well.”

Grace Hagan M.D., is an internal medicine resident at Mayo Clinic and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. heads to Capitol Hill Thursday after restoring staffing at the World Trade Center Health Program, a move that could ease one of the most persistent points of bipartisan criticism he has faced for months.

Program advocates and lawmakers said they received an email from the secretary on Wednesday approving hiring for 37 long-vacant positions. This will raise staffing from its current 83 employees to the federally authorized level of 120.  

The move comes after nearly a year of bipartisan criticism that staffing shortages were slowing care for the 140,000 responders and survivors the program serves, many of whom have been diagnosed with cancer, respiratory disease and other conditions tied to exposure to toxins after the 9/11 terror attacks in New York, Shanksville, Penn., and Washington, D.C.

The World Trade Center Health Program was created as part of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act to provide long-term medical monitoring and treatment to those affected by the attacks. For more than a year, the program has operated far below capacity with about 83 staff members, following a period of upheaval that included firings, rehires and shifting leadership, even as the participant population grew by nearly 30,000 new enrollees.

Advocates say the reduced staffing has had real consequences, including slower approval of survivors into the program, delays in managing contractors, and longer wait times for care.

“This is progress,” Benjamin Chevat, executive director of Citizens for the Extension of the James Zadroga Act, told ABC News. He credited the progress to sustained pressure from lawmakers in both parties and their consistent support of the program.

Lawmakers also have welcomed the end of the hiring freeze.

Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., told ABC News that the approval for the additional staff would “directly support the responders and survivors who rely on this care every day,” and that “more staff means better access to care, shorter wait times, and stronger support for those still living with the health impacts” of the attacks.

He called the move “real progress for the 9/11 community” and said it is “about making sure those who answered the call on September 11th get the care they have earned.”

Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., also welcomed the news but criticized the delays. “I am encouraged that, after repeated demands from me and from other members of Congress, Secretary Kennedy is finally increasing staffing at the World Trade Center Health Program so that our brave survivors and first responders can receive the quality health care they deserve,” Goldman told ABC News.

“The ongoing staffing shortages under this administration are unacceptable and have been undermining the program’s ability to provide timely and quality care to the enrollees,” Goldman added. “I will be watching closely to ensure that new staffers are hired as quickly as possible and that our heroes receive the quality healthcare they were promised and deserve.”

At a senate hearing last May, Kennedy acknowledged that “we made a couple of mistakes” in firing program staff and promised to address them.

“Under Secretary Kennedy’s leadership, the World Trade Center Health Program continues to move forward and deliver for responders and survivors,” a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services told ABC News in response to a request for comment. “The approval of these positions reflects HHS’ commitment to strengthening the program. The petition reviews are proceeding through established processes, and work is actively underway to advance pending petitions. Protecting the health and well-being of those affected by 9/11 remains a top priority.”

Chevat pointed out the timing of the decision, which comes as Kennedy prepared to face lawmakers at Thursday’s public hearing: “Now a year later he is finally letting the program fill the staff vacancies that the program was blocked from filling.”

In a previous statement to ABC News, HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said decisions about the program, including staffing and whether to add new health conditions to be covered under the program, rest with the World Trade Center Health Program administrator, not Secretary Kennedy.

Even with the staffing issue moving toward resolution, significant concerns for the program remain, Chevat said. They include key decisions about expanding coverage for additional conditions including autoimmune, cardiac, and cognitive disorders are still pending – for years, in some cases.

Those decisions ultimately require sign-off within HHS, under Kennedy’s direction, according to Chevat. Until that happens, patients with those conditions don’t qualify for full coverage through the program.

Research funding for the program also remains stalled, according to Chevat. Its annual grant cycle, which typically distributes about $20 million for studies on 9/11-related illnesses, is still waiting for approval, despite the understanding that it would begin this past February, he said.

Additionally, communication between the program and the 9/11 community has been sparse under HHS oversight, with fewer updates and less clarity about decision-making, according to Chevat and other 9/11 survivor advocates.

Lawmakers are still likely to ask Kennedy questions about the World Trade Center Health Program during today’s hearings, Chevat said. The research funding budget is also expected to come up during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing next week.

For now, however, the decision to restore program staffing removes one of the most visible and widely criticized problems, Chevat said.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — As President Donald Trump’s administration touts its new federal dietary guidelines, experts and officials suggest there’s a long road ahead before America’s students have healthier school meals.

With the Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services partnering to address chronic disease — aiming to place whole, nutrient-dense food at the center of diets — the administration believes it has taken a major step toward solving America’s youth health crises.

From Secretaries Brooke Rollins and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary, there’s a full-scale push to make school meals healthier by next school year, but the USDA’s former Food and Nutrition Service Administrator Cindy Long said their changes won’t happen “overnight.”

Long — who was USDA’s Deputy Administrator for Child Nutrition under former President Barack Obama and during President Donald Trump’s first term — told ABC News the Healthy-Hunger Free Kids Act, which is the school meals bill that was signed into law in 2010, ignited a shift to healthier school meals over a decade ago.

Celebrating the newest dietary guidelines, the foundation of dozens of federal feeding programs, including school meals, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has said that her agency is submitting its proposed school meals rule by mid-spring. Meanwhile, implementing the meals in U.S. classrooms will see delays after the updated regulations, some health policy experts noted.

Dr. David Ludwig, a professor of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, suggested the changes may take a while both in practice and culture.

“We have to address this on many levels,” Ludwig told ABC News, adding, “First, improving the guidelines that regulate food quality in schools. That’s foundational.”

Ludwig echoed the Trump administration’s 2025-2030 guidelines, which are updated every five years, emphasizing that new school meal ingredients must reduce sugar and other processed carbohydrates and increase whole foods.

“Layer two is adequate funding so that not only healthful but delicious foods can be prepared,” he said, adding, “It’s critical for children to understand that we don’t want to raise a generation that thinks healthy foods are going to be just bland.”

Updates will be made through formal rulemaking, the government’s multi-step process that includes opportunities for public comment, to ensure USDA supports children’s access to nutritious, high-quality meals at school, according to a USDA spokesperson.

However, Long told ABC News that some of the President Joe Biden administration’s changes to reduce added sugar and sodium to school meals are still being implemented.

“You can’t change this enormous system with 100,000 schools operating overnight,” she said, adding “You’ve got to allow time for people to be successful, for people to change menus, for them to procure the right products, for industry to be able to produce products that will help them bring down the sodium, bring down the added sugar etc.”

White House Senior Advisor Calley Means told ABC News there will be a “flurry” of regulation changes this year that will bolster kids’ meals at school. He bemoaned critics’ concerns that the administration lacks the funding to make the necessary changes.

“The government spends hundreds of billions of dollars on food procurement,” he said, adding, “We do not have a budget issue. There’s been a political will problem that President Trump and Bobby Kennedy and Brooke Rollins have solved. There’s care about this issue. We’re going to be driving common sense solutions.”

Parental control over school meals

University of Illinois Professor of Nutrition Dr. Donald Layman believes promoting healthier meal options — like increased protein and the subtraction of ultra-processed foods — signals a “total sea change” for parents.

“I think it gives parents a different structure,” he told ABC News, adding, “They’ve been told that, well, eggs were bad for you, or that meats were bad for you, and they’re left not knowing what to give their kids.”

“I’ve always felt that the issue was, how do we empower parents to do what they know is right, but they’ve been told they shouldn’t do,” Layman added.

Hilary Boynton — a California mom and former head of nutrition services at her kids’ school — said, “people are starting to recognize that they have agency over their own health and [they can] be empowered by that.”

In Summer Barrett’s home state of West Virginia, a mom who says she’s a part of the Make America Healthy Again Movement, said she’s grown frustrated with school meals containing excess amounts of sugar in Dunkin’ Stix Donuts breakfasts.

“You’re giving them 52 grams of sugar, and then you send them to class and you wonder, ‘oh, why can’t you sit still,’” Barrett said. “Why can’t you learn? Why can’t you focus?” Well, cause you just jacked them up on more sugar than they should have in an entire day,” she added.

The new guidelines may signal that school meal changes are to come, thanks to MAHA moms like Barrett who have been “hungry for this nutrition science for a long time,” according to FDA Commissioner Makary. Makary and Kennedy have already started visiting schools to help promote programs that serve scratch-cooked meals with Whole Foods like fruits and vegetables.

Meanwhile, Cindy Long told ABC that the administration’s changes will only build on prior policy wins.

“I’m hoping that this will just continue on the path of, sort of, continuing to make school meals stronger and stronger,” she said.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Weekly visits to emergency rooms for tick bites are at the highest level since at least 2017, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

During the most recent week, 71 per 100,000 ER visits were due to tick bites, compared to the average of about 30 per 100,000 ER visits for this time of year, more than double from what is typical this time of year.

Currently, the Northeast is reporting the most ER visits for tick bites, followed by the Midwest, Southeast, West and South Central regions, respectively, CDC data shows.

“We’re running well above historic average and even well above last year,” Dr. John J. Halperin, chair of the New Jersey Stroke Care Advisory Panel and member of the department of neuroscience at Atlantic Health Overlook Medical Center in New Jersey — who partly focuses on Lyme disease — told ABC News.

“The ticks have started a little earlier. There seems to be a lot of them. A lot of people are going to the emergency room,” he continued. “It’s not entirely clear how much of this is increased recognition and as people become more aware of this, more going to the emergency room. But there seems to be a clear increase in the number of ticks out there.”

May is typically when ER visits for tick bites peak each year, and it remains unclear if the upward trend will continue.

Halperin said it is possible that the monthly April average will level out and match prior years.

“Spring and early summer are prime time for getting bitten by the locally youngest form of ticks, which are the main ones who get us humans,” he said. “So, seeing a lot of them certainly means an increased risk.”

Tick-borne diseases have been on the rise in recent years and scientists suspect it is partly linked to climate change, which has caused shorter winters, earlier springs and hotter summers.

Dr. Christopher Bazzoli, an emergency medicine physician at Cleveland Clinic, said because of increased tick populations, in conjunction with warmer weather and heavy rains, it is likely some tick populations grow earlier in the season.

“Ticks tend to become active when the temp reaches 45 degrees [Fahrenheit] or more,” he told ABC News. “If [temperatures] stay higher into the fall, we could also see a longer tick season.”

Halperin said that in addition to climate change, there has been an increase in the recognition of certain tick-borne diseases.

“One big change … was the CDC changed what they would allow to be called a confirmed case of Lyme disease and really loosened the criteria,” he said. “So, there was a huge bump in the reported numbers.”

The CDC recommends that people avoid wooded and brushy areas with high grass and leaf litter and stay in the center of trails when hiking. The agency also recommends using Environmental Protection Agency-registered insect repellents containing at least 20% DEET,  20% picaridin as the listed active ingredient or other approved ingredients, but to avoid use for children under the age of 3.

“The thing to appreciate is these ticks have a strongly preferred habitat,” Halperin said. “They spend much of their lives in low brush. Their preferred reservoir host is the field mouse. Field mice carry Lyme disease … and if a tick lodges on that field mouse, it picks up the infection, and they can give it to us. The first thing you could do is stay away from areas where there might be field mice and ticks.”

The CDC also recommends treating outdoor clothing and gear with 0.5% permethrin, an insecticide and repellent, which remains effective even after multiple washes.

Halperin suggests doing a tick check at the end of the day. If you find one, he recommends using fine-tip tweezers, placing them between the skin and the tick and pulling to remove the tick.

Bazzoli recommended cleaning the area and taking a picture of the tick to identify it and what type of disease it could possibly be carrying.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Taking acetaminophen, also known by the brand name Tylenol, during pregnancy had no effect on children developing autism, according to a study of over 1.5 million children in Denmark published this week. 

The study was published in JAMA Pediatrics. 

Researchers analyzed 1.5 million children born between 1997 and 2022. About 1.8% of those who were exposed to Tylenol during pregnancy developed autism compared to 3.0% of those who were not exposed to Tylenol.

A prior study out of Sweden looked at siblings, finding no causal link between autism and Tylenol exposure during pregnancy. There are genetic associations and environmental triggers that are likely involved, but neither Tylenol nor vaccines has been shown to be the cause of autism.  

The new study out this week comes after President Donald Trump and his administration had previously urged pregnant mothers to avoid Tylenol, without substantive evidence for the claims. 

“With Tylenol, don’t take it. Don’t take it,” Trump said during a press event at the White House in September. “If you can’t live, if your fever is so bad, you have to take one, because there’s no alternative to that.” 

The FDA then initiated a process to update the safety label on acetaminophen to suggest that its use during pregnancy and autism were linked. 

At the time, Kenvue, the maker of Tylenol, wrote in part of a statement, “We believe independent, sound science clearly shows that taking acetaminophen does not cause autism. We strongly disagree with any suggestion otherwise and are deeply concerned with the health risk this poses for expecting mothers.”

At the time, medical organizations, like the American College of Obstetrician & Gynecologists, immediately pushed back, noting that Tylenol was one of the few options for pregnant women to treat pain and fever, which can be harmful when left untreated.

It is generally not recommended for pregnant women to take ibuprofen, Advil, during pregnancy due to the risk of complications.

Nevertheless, the claims made by the administration have led to confusion. A prior study found that Tylenol use in emergency departments dipped 16% immediately following the announcement by the administration.

ABC News reached out to Kenvue, the maker of Tylenol, for a statement but did not immediately hear back. 

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — E-bikes and e-scooters led to a growing number of trauma injuries at one New York City hospital, according to a new study published Wednesday.

About 7% of all trauma visits between 2018 and 2023 at Bellevue Hospital Center were due to micromobility injuries. Micromobility is the use of small, lightweight and low-speed modes of transportation such as bicycles, e-bikes and e-scooters.

The study showed a growing share of patients who sustained these injuries had accidents linked to e-bikes or e-scooters.

Hospital data showed that, by 2023, over half of all trauma cases related to bikes or scooters involved an e-bike or e-scooter, an increase from just 8% in 2018, according to the study, published in the journal Neurosurgery. 

The most common type of mechanism involved a collision with a motor vehicle followed by falls from the bike or scooter. 

Bellevue is a Level 1 Trauma center in a large metropolitan city, designed to treat the worst kinds of injuries. Over the study period, about 30% of patients suffered a traumatic brain injury, 26% had injury to the skull or face and 50% required surgery.

“Our study shows that micromobility injuries are producing serious brain and spinal trauma that demands neurosurgical care at a scale we haven’t seen before,” corresponding study author Dr. Hannah Weiss, a resident in the Department of Neurosurgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, said in a press release. “In a busy urban setting, we are seeing more and more of these injuries firsthand.”

Most patients seen for these injuries, nearly 69%, needed to be admitted to the hospital and nearly a third needed intensive care.

The majority of patients stayed at least three days in the hospital. Pedestrians who were struck had higher rates of traumatic brain injuries and were more likely to be admitted for intensive care. 

“The data point to actionable solutions — helmet use, safer bike lane design and enforcement — that could prevent many of these injuries and better protect both riders and pedestrians, who in our study often sustained even more severe brain injuries than the riders themselves,” Weiss said. 

About 20% of patients were intoxicated with alcohol, only 31% were using a helmet and injuries were more likely to occur in the evening hours, according to the study. 

“Our findings make clear that urban infrastructure must continue to improve to keep pace with the rapid rise of electric bikes and scooters,” Dr. Paul P. Huang, an associate professor in the department of neurosurgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and chief of neurosurgery at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, said in a press release. 

“Future studies should track these injuries across multiple cities and measure whether protected bike lanes, helmet programs, and speed enforcement actually reduce the number of brain and spine surgeries we perform,” Huang added,

Jade A. Cobern, MD, MPH, is a practicing physician, board-certified in pediatrics and general preventive medicine, and is a fellow of the ABC News Medical Unit. 

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.