Health & Safety

Facing public pressure, federal regulators have decided to let patients receive prescriptions for controlled substances via telehealth for at least another six months.

Health & Safety

The pandemic-era rule that lets you get telehealth prescriptions just got extended

5:13pm May 10, 2023

by Yuki Noguchi

Telehealth flourished during the pandemic thanks to relaxed rules that allowed prescribing without an in-person visit. Federal officials have decided to keep that in place for the time being.

Queue Listen Now

An advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration supported drugmaker Perrigo's application to sell the oral contraceptive Opill without a prescription.

Health & Safety

Advisers to the FDA back first over-the-counter birth control pill

5:13pm May 10, 2023

In a unanimous vote, 17-0, a panel of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration recommended that the agency approve the first over-the-counter birth control pill.

Pregnant women at Sierra Leone's Gondama Referral Center. Sierra Leone has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world. A new study looks at an intervention to prevent death from postpartum hemorrhage.

Health & Safety

A plastic sheet with a pouch could be a 'game changer' for maternal mortality

5:12pm May 10, 2023

by Rhitu Chatterjee

A new study assesses a low-cost intervention aimed at reducing deaths from bleeding during childbirth. It's remarkably simple — and, according to a new study, quite effective.

How frontline health workers continue to navigate the pandemic

4:39pm May 10, 2023

From hospital staffing to patient wait times, frontline workers at an emergency department in Glen Burnie, Md., share how they continue to navigate the changes and challenges brought by the pandemic.

Queue Listen Now

Journalist Thomas Bwire asked these Kenyans how the pandemic has changed their lives. Top row from left: Abdala Hamadi, Judith Shitabule and Innocent Agwenyi. Bottow row from left: Phillister Atieno, Father Ignacio Flores Garcia and Valary Judith Atieno.

Health & Safety

Kenyans are shocked, joyful and skeptical: a slice of life post-COVID emergency

3:18pm May 10, 2023

by Thomas Bwire

Our reporter spoke to residents of Kibera, known as Africa's largest urban slum. Many had not yet heard that the World Health Organization ended the state of "emergency." Here's what they told us.

Millions of people have long COVID brain fog — and there's a shortage of answers

1:50pm May 10, 2023

by Dave Davies

Psychologist James Jackson says people with long COVID experience impaired brain function and mental health issues. He offers some practical advice and support in his new book, Clearing the Fog.

Queue Listen Now

Health & Safety

Mammograms should start at age 40, U.S. panel recommends

5:08am May 10, 2023

by Allison Aubrey

A federal task force is recommending that women at average risk for breast cancer get a mammogram every other year starting at age 40.

Dr. Ashish Jha on the White House ending the COVID-19 emergency declaration

4:39pm May 09, 2023

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha about how the national public health emergency for coronavirus is coming to an end May 11.

New recommendations from the USPSTF advise that women get biannual mammograms starting at age 40 to detect breast cancers.

Health & Safety

If you're 40, it's time to start mammograms, according to new guidelines

4:07pm May 09, 2023

by Allison Aubrey

The influential U.S. Preventive Task Force issue a draft of its new breast cancer screening guidelines. They're now recommending women start younger, amid a rise in breast cancer rates.

Health & Safety

For former Wake Forest pitcher Marc Palmieri, team's epilepsy awareness effort is personal

2:15pm May 09, 2023

by Braden Bock

Wake Forest University’s baseball team is ranked number one after a series against Boston College. But the team is doing more than just winning games.

Queue Listen Now