Health & Safety

Roger Severino Discusses The HHS Division Of Conscience And Religious Freedom

4:48pm January 18, 2018

NPR's Kelly McEvers speaks with Roger Severino about the new Department of Health and Human Services Division of Conscience and Religious Freedom, which is intended to protect people from discrimination if they refuse to participate in health services, against their beliefs.

The Department of Health and Humans Services is adding a Division of Conscience and Religious Freedom to protect doctors, nurses and other health care workers who refuse to take part in some kinds of care because of moral or religious objections.

Trump Admin Will Protect Health Workers Who Refuse Services On Religious Grounds

4:48pm January 18, 2018

by Alison Kodjak

The Division of Conscience and Religious Freedom is being established to aid health workers with objections rooted in conscience or religion to treating certain people and performing some procedures.

When you smell ginger root or petrol, do you have a specific word to describe the odor?

That Smells Like ... Um, I Can't Think Of A Word For It!

4:36pm January 18, 2018

by Angus Chen

A new study looks at the way we identify smells. English speakers kind of stink at it. But that's not the case in every language.

An NPR investigation finds that people with intellectual disabilities suffer one of the highest rates of sexual assault — and that compared with other rape victims, they are even more likely to be assaulted by someone they know.

From The Frontlines Of A Sexual Assault Epidemic: 2 Therapists Share Stories

12:48pm January 18, 2018

by Joseph Shapiro

Two psychologists both have a rare specialty: counseling sexual assault survivors who have intellectual disabilities. The stories of sexual violence in their clients' lives have striking similarities.

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HHS To Protect Health Workers With Religious Objections

7:29am January 18, 2018

by Alison Kodjak

The Department of Health and Human Services is expected to announce the creation of a new division to protect health workers who object to procedures like abortions for religious reasons.

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News Brief: HHS To Protect Religious Objectors, Trump's First Year Poll, Apple Jobs

7:29am January 18, 2018

The Department of Health and Human Services is expected to announce the creation of a new division to protect health workers who object to procedures for religious reasons.

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Republicans Blame Medicaid For Contributing To Opioid Epidemic

7:29am January 18, 2018

Times-Picayune reporter Julia O'Donoghue talks with Rachel Martin about the rationale behind the Republican argument that expanding Medicaid contributes to the country's opioid epidemic.

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Dr. Mathilde Krim at the World AIDS Day Symposium presented by the Foundation For AIDS Research and the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in 2002. Krim had a knack for helping people talk about HIV/AIDS rationally, colleagues say.

Pioneering HIV Researcher Mathilde Krim Remembered For Her Activism

7:26pm January 17, 2018

by Patti Neighmond

Mathilde Krim, who died this week, was a vocal pioneer in HIV treatment and research at a time when discrimination against people with AIDS in the U.S. was rampant, even in medical care.

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Ronda Goldfein, attorney and executive director of the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, holds an envelope that revealed a person's HIV status through the clear window.

Aetna Agrees To Pay $17 Million In HIV Privacy Breach

6:18pm January 17, 2018

by Elana Gordon

Health insurer Aetna has reached a settlement with people whose privacy was compromised when their HIV status was visible through the clear address windows on envelopes sent to them.

On Wednesday Walmart began distributing a new solution to help customers dispose of leftover opioid prescriptions. But CDC says, just flush them down the toilet.

Walmart Offers Product To Destroy Leftover Opioids, But Critics Say It's Unnecessary

5:57pm January 17, 2018

by Vanessa Romo

The company billed it as a "first-of-its-kind" item that lets customers turn extra opioid painkillers into trash, but the CDC says just flush the medicine down the toilet.