Health & Safety

Health & Safety

Health advocates criticize New Mexico governor for increasing juvenile detention

10:34am January 11, 2024

by Megan Myscofski

The New Mexico governor alarmed youth advocates by pulling back on a program that helped some teens avoid juvenile detention. She says detention can help with their addictions, but experts disagree.

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North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure speaks to reporters after an event in Raleigh,

Cooper, Medicaid leader push insurance enrollment as North Carolina Medicaid expansion also grows

8:43am January 11, 2024

by Gary Robertson, Associated Press

North Carolina is barely a month into the start of Medicaid expansion in the state and over 310,000 low-income adults have now enrolled in the government health care coverage, Gov. Roy Cooper said Wednesday while hosting the nation's chief Medicaid regulator.

Newer blood tests can help doctors diagnose Alzheimer's disease without a brain scan or spinal tap. But some tests are more accurate than others.

Blood tests can help diagnose Alzheimer's — if they're accurate enough. Not all are

5:00am January 11, 2024

by Jon Hamilton

A new generation of blood tests can help doctors diagnose Alzheimer's without a brain scan or spinal tap. But only a few perform as well as traditional tests.

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New blood tests can help diagnose Alzheimer's — but some aren't as accurate as others

6:05pm January 10, 2024

by Jon Hamilton

Now that there are drugs to treat Alzheimer's, blood tests to detect it will likely become an attractive, low-cost option to decide who can get treatment. Some tests are more accurate than others.

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Doctor details struggles and horrors of working in a Gaza hospital

5:11pm January 10, 2024

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Dr. Seema Jilani, who spent two weeks working with the International Rescue Committee in the emergency room of the al-Aqsa hospital in Gaza.

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Researchers from Columbia University and Rutgers University found roughly 240,000 detectable plastic fragments in a typical liter of bottled water.

Researchers find a massive number of plastic particles in bottled water

11:58am January 10, 2024

by James Doubek

Researchers found roughly 240,000 detectable plastic fragments in a typical liter of bottled water. Most of them were nanoplastics — particles less than 1 micrometer in size.

Health & Safety

Medical ethics: Does the public need to know why Austin was hospitalized?

7:55am January 10, 2024

Following a days-long delay in the release of information about Defense Secretary Austin's condition, NPR's Michel Martin asks medical ethicist Keisha Ray about privacy rights of public officials.

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Hospitals in rural America face a dire financial forecast. The government has an incentive plan to help them keep their emergency departments open, while shutting their inpatient services.

Health & Safety

Federal fix for rural hospitals gets few takers so far

5:00am January 10, 2024

Just 18 facilities were converted into Rural Emergency Hospitals so far. Advocates and lawmakers say tweaks to the law are needed to widen the reach and keep health care in rural communities.

Pope Francis distributes sweets to children during the weekly general audience in Paul VI hall at the Vatican on January 3, 2024.

The Pope wants surrogacy banned. Here's why one advocate says that's misguided

5:56pm January 09, 2024

by Joe Hernandez

The pontiff called surrogacy "deplorable." But one U.S. surrogate said the practice helps those who are unable to have children start a family.

Tuyishimire Primitiva, phlebotomist with the American Red Cross, draws whole blood from Teresa McLeland at the American Red Cross on April 12, 2023 in Louisville, Kentucky.

Health & Safety

Red Cross declares an emergency blood shortage, as number of donors hits 20-year low

4:03pm January 09, 2024

by Diba Mohtasham

The number of people donating blood has dropped 40% over the last two decades, according to the Red Cross. Severe winter weather and illnesses could make an already bad situation even worse, it says.