Health & Safety

Health & Safety

Malpractice Changes In Massachusetts Offer Injured Patients New Options

12:17pm January 20, 2015

by Michelle Andrews

Hospitals in the state are among the leaders in developing alternatives to medical liability litigation. A recently enacted law helps consumers who want to challenge hospitals and doctors.

Health & Safety

From Detox To Elimination Diets, Skipping Sugar May Be The Best Bet

8:28am January 20, 2015

by Allison Aubrey

Detox diets are a hot trend, but scientists say there's really no evidence that they are necessary or helpful. One strategy that does make sense: Cut back on sugar. We tell you why.

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Biologist Rob Knight, co-founder of the American Gut Project, recently moved the project to the University of California, San Diego's School of Medicine.

One Scientist's Race To Help Microbes Help You

8:26am January 20, 2015

by Katherine Harmon Courage

Moving the American Gut Project to a biotech hub like San Diego may speed the jump from basic research to real treatments. At least that's microbe tracker Rob Knight's plan.

By Making A Game Out Of Rejection, A Man Conquers Fear

7:56am January 20, 2015

by Alix Spiegel

Jason Comely's fear of rejection was so strong that he'd become completely isolated. So he set out to get himself rejected at least once a day, every day. Funny thing is, it worked.

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Mental health therapist Shaundra Drysdale updates daily use numbers inside a crisis support services center in Greeley, Colo.

After Aurora Shooting, A 'New Way Of Responding' To Mental Crises

7:32pm January 19, 2015

by Grace Hood

In response to the 2012 theater killings, Colorado added clinics, hotlines and mobile units to support early crisis prevention. At the heart of the initiative are 13 walk-in crisis centers.

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Bruno Mbango Enyaka gets his flu shot at a community health center in Portland, Maine, on Jan. 7.

This Year's Flu Vaccine Is Pretty Wimpy, But Can Still Help

7:22pm January 19, 2015

by Rob Stein

The vaccine is only about 23 percent effective against the dominant flu strain, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's because the strain mutated slightly.

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Health & Safety

When Bariatric Surgery's Benefits Wane, This Procedure Can Help

7:37am January 19, 2015

by Patti Neighmond

Bariatric surgery works for severely obese patients because it shrinks the size of the stomach. But years later, the stomach starts to expand and some patients regain the weight they lost.

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A Kaiser mental health worker with the National Union of Healthcare Workers looks through a pile of signs Monday during day one of a week-long demonstration outside of a Kaiser Permanente hospital in San Francisco.

Health & Safety

Calif. Strike Highlights Larger Issues With Mental Health System

5:22pm January 18, 2015

by NPR Staff

This past week, more than 2,000 mental health workers for health care giant Kaiser Permanente went on strike. Organizers say Kaiser's "chronic failure" to provide timely, quality care hurts patients.

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Guinea's Health Minister Says Ebola Situation 'Improving'

5:22pm January 18, 2015

Guinea's health minister says schools will re-open on Monday after being closed because of the Ebola outbreak. Correspondent Ofeibea Quist-Arcton talks to NPR's Arun Rath from the capital, Conakry.

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A year after his cancer diagnosis, Henning Mankell is working on a new novel, and he just directed Shakespeare's Hamlet in his adopted country of Mozambique.

'Wallander' Author Henning Mankell On The Catastrophe Of Cancer

9:11pm January 17, 2015

by Martin Scholz

The famed Swedish author of the Kurt Wallander mystery novels was diagnosed a year ago — "a catastrophe for me," he says; since then, he's talked more about the disease than the drama of forensics.