Health & Safety

Health & Safety

Transgender rights advocates are celebrating a major legal victory

5:16am April 30, 2024

A federal appeals court has ruled health insurance plans need to cover gender-affirming surgeries. Trans people in West Virginia and North Carolina sued to get the coverage.

Health & Safety

3 women are infected with HIV after undergoing a vampire facial at a N.M. spa

5:16am April 30, 2024

NPR's A Martinez speaks with cosmetic dermatologist Jordan Carqueville about the growing trend of vampire facials, and what you need to know before asking for one at your local spa.

Voters take to the polls in the early hours of the morning on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, during the 2022 Midterm Elections at Ladue City Hall in Ladue, Mo.

Abortion rights on the ballot may not be bad news for Republicans everywhere

5:01am April 30, 2024

by Jason Rosenbaum

More states than ever are gearing up to vote on abortion rights this fall, including Republican-led Missouri. There, voters could show the issue isn't a down-ballot Democratic dream everywhere.

Queue Listen Now

When he arranged to undergo top surgery, Cass Smith-Collins of Las Vegas selected a surgeon touted as an early developer of the procedure who does not contract with insurance. "I had one shot to get the chest that I should have been born with, and I wasn't going to chance it to someone who was not an expert at his craft," he says.

Health & Safety

Sign here? Financial agreements may leave doctors in the driver's seat

5:00am April 30, 2024

Agreeing to an out-of-network doctor's financial policy, which protects their ability to get paid and may be littered with confusing jargon, can create a binding contract that leaves a patient owing.

Cases about transgender people and their rights have been working their way through the court system for years. Here, people demonstrate in favor of trans rights in front of the Supreme Court in 2019.

Transgender health care must be paid for by state insurance, says an appeals court

6:41pm April 29, 2024

by Selena Simmons-Duffin

The federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., ruled in favor of transgender patients on Monday. The case was brought by Medicaid recipients in West Virginia and state employees in North Carolina.

Queue Listen Now

Once a destination for abortion, Florida will soon have the most restrictive ban

6:10pm April 29, 2024

by Rosemary Westwood

Florida had been a destination for people in the Deep South to get abortions, but on May first a six-week abortion ban goes into effect there, making the region the most restrictive for the procedure.

Queue Listen Now

Health & Safety

The jump in measles cases in 2023 is 'very concerning' says WHO official

4:39pm April 29, 2024

And the numbers in 2024 aren't looking any better. Why is this highly infectious disease on the rise? And how can it be tamed?

The medical device maker Philips has agreed to a $1.1 billion settlement to address claims brought by thousands of people with sleep apnea who say they were injured by the company's CPAP machines.

What consumers should know as Philips agrees to $1.1 billion CPAP settlement

3:38pm April 29, 2024

by Bill Chappell

Under a related deal, users who return devices by Aug. 9 can get an extra $100. As part of the recall, the company is offering repairs, replacements or refunds of the machines' cost.

Doctor holding heart with transgender flag colors

West Virginia and North Carolina's transgender care coverage policies discriminate, judges rule

2:28pm April 29, 2024

by Associated Press and Leah Willingham

A federal appeals court has ruled that West Virginia and North Carolina's refusal to cover certain health care for transgender people with government-sponsored insurance is discriminatory. The case is likely headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Don't just sneeze without a tissue! That's the message of this early pandemic era graffiti in Dakar, Senegal. The World Health Organization has just issued an updated report on the way SARS-CoV-2 spreads. Take our quiz to see if you're up on your COVID terminology.

Health & Safety

Quiz: Can you pass our 9 question test on the latest theories of COVID-19 transmission

10:49am April 29, 2024

by Ari Daniel

The World Health Organization has issued a report updating terminology and explanations regarding the spread of the novel coronavirus. See if you're up on the latest vocab.