Health & Safety

Left to right: Barbies in India; Maya softball players in Mexico; walking on a frozen fountain in the mountains of Pakistan, where efforts are underway to revive the ancient art of glacier mating.

Health & Safety

From glacier babies to a Barbie debate: 7 great global stories you might have missed

9:55am December 28, 2023

by Marc Silver

Here are our editors' picks for stories from 2023 that we wish more people would see: from an elephant safari for teens to mating glaciers in Pakistan to a debate about Barbie's skin tone in India.

The Guilford County Behavioral Health Center

Health & Safety

Two years after opening, Guilford County Behavioral Health Center sees urgent-care services highly utilized

6:25am December 28, 2023

by Bethany Chafin

The Guilford County Behavioral Health Center opened in Greensboro in 2021 to provide services for children, adolescents, and adults experiencing a mental health crisis. One of the goals is for it to be a more suitable location for those who might otherwise end up in an emergency room.

Man in helmet works at a construction site

Piedmont companies wracked up significant OSHA fines in 2023

6:00am December 28, 2023

by April Laissle

Several local companies wracked up hefty fines from the state’s Occupational Safety and Health Division th

Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider (right) interviews comedian Tig Notaro about drawing humor from her breast cancer diagnosis. Ungerleider is the founder of End Well, a nonprofit focused on shifting the American conversation around death. Their discussion took place in November at End Well's 2023 conference held in Los Angeles.

Doctors are pushing Hollywood for more realistic depictions of death and dying on TV

5:00am December 28, 2023

by April Dembosky

Clinicians who work with people at the end of life say the most common television depictions of death aren't representative of what happens in the real world. They want to flip the script.

Queue Listen Now

Health & Safety

Fentanyl overdose deaths spark debate over treatment

5:12am December 27, 2023

by Brian Mann

As the drugs fentanyl and xylazine spread, 2023 emerged as a devastating year for Americans struggling with addiction.

Palestinian children, having fled the Israeli bombing of the northern Gaza Strip in response to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, are living in temporary shelters at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. Global health groups say they are doing what they can to keep a lid on infectious diseases amid crowded, unsanitary conditions and a devastated health-care system.

Health workers struggle to prevent an infectious disease 'disaster in waiting' in Gaza

6:00pm December 26, 2023

Public health experts say conditions in war-torn Gaza are ripe for the spread of infectious disease. Health workers are struggling to spot and contain outbreaks, even as the health system teeters.

Concern grows over infectious disease outbreaks in Gaza

4:52pm December 26, 2023

by Ari Daniel

The war between Israel and Hamas has devastated Gaza's health infrastructure and overwhelmed the remaining hospitals. Health professionals are growing concerned about infectious disease outbreaks.

A research participant in the Levi Lab at University California, Berkeley undergoes treatment for amblyopia using virtual reality.

Health & Safety

Virtual reality gives a boost to the 'lazy eye'

4:43pm December 26, 2023

by Anna Marie Yanny

To treat amblyopia, or lazy eye, doctors typically prescribe a patch to cover the stronger eye and make the brain learn to work with the weaker one. Virtual reality offers a new approach.

Elizabeth Weller speaks at a press conference in Austin, Texas on July 19. She's one of 20 women suing the state after being denied abortions despite serious pregnancy complications.

Health & Safety

'Jane Roe' is anonymous no more. The very public fight against abortion bans in 2023

8:58am December 26, 2023

As the first full year since Roe v. Wade was overturned closes, the abortion landscape in the U.S. has changed legally, politically and medically.

A new push for hockey neck guards

4:41pm December 25, 2023

In the New Year, both the NHL and NCAA will discuss making neck guards for hockey players mandatory. That's after the death of hockey players injured in games the last two years.