Health & Safety

Dr. Robert Wachter writes that computers have crowded out eye contact between the doctor and patient, in his latest book, The Digital Doctor: Hope, Hype, and Harm at the Dawn of Medicine's Computer Age.

Health & Safety

Digital Tools For Health Come With 'Hope, Hype And Harm'

5:16pm April 14, 2015

by Michelle Andrews

Medicine's move into the computer age has great potential for improving care. But patients and doctors still face serious challenges in adapting to the rush of new technology.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott looks during a news conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, last month. Abbott announced Sunday that his government would close a loophole to discourage families from refusing childhood vaccinations.

Australia To Stop Payments To Families Who Refuse Child Vaccinations

1:25pm April 14, 2015

by Scott Neuman

Prime Minister Tony Abbott says that starting in 2016, welfare payments and child care rebates will be cut off to families that take a "conscientious objector" exemption to avoid immunizations.

Secretary of State John Kerry and African Union Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma signed an agreement Monday to establish the first Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Africa. The U.S. will provide technical advice and a few staff fo

Disease Detection Gets A Boost With Plans For A CDC In Africa

1:02pm April 14, 2015

by Jim Burress

African health officials are partnering with the U.S. to build a continentwide Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The goal is a more rapid response to health emergencies, such as Ebola.

A health worker injects a vaccine to prevent polio and measles in Lahore, Pakistan.

Jonas Salk's Polio Vaccine Makes A Comeback

7:38pm April 13, 2015

by Joanne Silberner

As it marks its 60th birthday, the injectable vaccine is still critical. It's "needed to end polio for good," as Carol Pendak of Rotary's Polio Plus program puts it.

Detective Lt. Patrick Glynn holds a nasal injection containing the overdose-reversing drug naloxone at police headquarters in Quincy, Mass.

Health & Safety

A Lifesaving Medicine That My Patient Didn't Get In Time

5:56pm April 13, 2015

by Leana Wen

Drug overdoses — many from opioid painkillers — cause more deaths in the U.S. than car crashes, shootings or alcohol. But stigma keeps many addicts from an antidote that could quickly save them.

Health & Safety

What Could Go Wrong When Doctors Treat Their Own Kids?

5:55pm April 13, 2015

by John Henning Schumann

There's a general rule against doctors treating family members and friends. The relationships can cloud their judgment. But the perils don't stop many doctors from trying.

Edie Falco stars in Showtime's "Nurse Jackie."

'Nurse Jackie' Ends As TV's Most Honest Depiction Of Addiction

4:46pm April 13, 2015

by Eric Deggans

Showtime's dramedy Nurse Jackie begins its final season Sunday. NPR TV critic Eric Deggans says the show offers television's most realistic depiction of a high functioning drug addict.

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Will Ebola Impact Midterm Elections?

12:34pm April 13, 2015

Weekend Edition Sunday's new segment, "For the Record," kicks off with politics and Ebola. NPR's Rachel Martin asks NPR's Mara Liasson and Dallas columnist J. Floyd about the politics of the disease.

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UNICEF workers assemble "school infection prevention kits" in Monrovia, Liberia, to stop the spread of Ebola back in January.

The Truth About Humanitarian Work: High Ideals Vs. Hard Realities

12:31pm April 13, 2015

by Rachel Martin

In this week's For the Record, we meet three humanitarian aid workers: one confronting the Ebola crisis, another trying to educate Syrian refugees and another who's stepped back from field work.

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Yolanda Soto runs Borderlands Food Bank in Nogales, Ariz. Each year, the nonprofit rescues millions of pounds of nutritious and safe fruits and vegetables rejected near the U.S. border and redirects them to needy families across America.

Lunch, Not Landfill: Nonprofit Rescues Produce Rejected At U.S. Border

11:07am April 13, 2015

by Lisa Morehouse

Each year, millions of pounds of Mexican produce are rejected just past the border even though it's tasty and edible. Instead of the landfill, it's now going to needy families across the U.S.

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