Health & Safety

A man walks past a National Health Service sign in 2007 in London. The NHS offers services at the Askern Medical Practice in Doncaster, whose patients mistakenly received text messages informing them of a terminal cancer diagnosis.

A U.K. medical office mistakenly sent patients a text message with a cancer diagnosis

6:28pm December 29, 2022

by Ashley Ahn

The Christmas Eve message informing patients of a terminal lung cancer diagnosis was followed by a second text apologizing for the error and saying the office meant to offer them holiday greetings.

Kaitlyn and Landon Joshua were worried for Kaitlyn's health when she started to bleed heavily and had labor-like pains early in her pregnancy. But two different emergency rooms she went to wouldn't confirm she was miscarrying or explain her treatment options.

Bleeding and in pain, she couldn't get 2 Louisiana ERs to answer: Is it a miscarriage?

3:58pm December 29, 2022

by Rosemary Westwood

When she was pregnant, Kaitlyn Joshua struggled to get medical care — and answers — in post-Roe Louisiana, where abortion is banned.

Federal prosecutors say the drug wholesaler AmerisourceBergen Corp. failed to report suspicious orders for opioids. The company says the government "cherry picked" possible violations.

Feds sue AmerisourceBergen over 'hundreds of thousands' of alleged opioid violations

1:19pm December 29, 2022

by Brian Mann

DOJ officials say the drug wholesaler could face "billions of dollars" in penalties for failing to report diversion of prescription opioid pain medications shipped to pharmacies across the U.S.

Gerhardt Boukes, chief scientist at Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines, formulates mRNA for use in a new vaccine against COVID-19. The company — based in Cape Town, South Africa — is the linchpin of a global project to enable low- and middle-income countries to make mRNA vaccines against all manner of diseases.

How a scrappy African startup could forever change the world of vaccines

11:20am December 29, 2022

by Nurith Aizenman

Afrigen is the linchpin of global project to use mRNA technology to empower low-resource countries to make their own vaccines against killer diseases from TB to HIV. What will it take to succeed?

Queue Listen Now

The U.S. will require travelers from China to take COVID tests

5:17pm December 28, 2022

by Emily Feng

The U.S. will require travelers from China to take COVID tests from Jan. 5. CDC officials have also expressed concerns about new variants originating from China, which is experiencing a surge.

Bivalent COVID-19 vaccines are readied for use at a clinic in Richmond, Va., Nov. 2022. Just 15% of eligible Americans have gotten the most recent booster shot, according to the CDC.

It's not too late to get a COVID booster — especially for older adults

5:01am December 28, 2022

by Selena Simmons-Duffin

Public health officials want more Americans to get the latest COVID vaccine booster. Only 35% of people over 65 have gotten the shot, though 75% of COVID deaths are among people in this age group.

A Border Patrol agent checks an asylum seeker's passport after she turned herself in, in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Dec. 19.

Supreme Court allows border restrictions for asylum seekers to continue for now

5:21pm December 27, 2022

by Joel Rose

The justices agreed to decide in its February argument session whether 19 states that oppose the Title 42 policy should be allowed to intervene in defense of the restrictions in the lower courts.

A Washington, D.C., resident has an operation growing psilocybin mushrooms. Brain researchers are increasingly studying psychedelic compounds like psilocybin and LSD as potential treatments for anxiety, depression and other disorders.

Psychedelic drugs may launch a new era in psychiatric treatment, brain scientists say

11:50am December 27, 2022

by Jon Hamilton

Psychedelic drugs were a hot topic at this year's Society for Neuroscience meeting. Researchers hope the drugs can help people with disorders like depression and PTSD.

Queue Listen Now

A passenger checks her phone as an Air China passenger jet taxis past at the Beijing Capital International airport on Oct. 29. China will drop a COVID-19 quarantine requirement for passengers arriving from abroad starting Jan. 8.

China will end its COVID-19 quarantine requirement for incoming passengers

3:17pm December 26, 2022

by The Associated Press

The scrapping of the quarantine requirement starting Jan. 8 is a major step toward reopening travel with the rest of the world, which the government severely curtailed in a bid to keep the virus out.

Humans have an elegant and intricate system of internal processes that help our bodies keep time, with exposure to sunlight, caffeine and meal timing all playing a role. But that doesn't account for "precision waking."

I usually wake up just ahead of my alarm. What's up with that?

5:13am December 26, 2022

by Will Stone

Call it "precision waking" — the alleged ability to decide when you want to wake up and then doing so, without an alarm. If you think you can do it, you're not alone, though how is still mysterious.