health care

Health & Safety

Fights over the role of state medical boards

4:17pm February 16, 2022

by Blake Farmer

State medical boards have an obligation to investigate complaints about doctors, including those who spread COVID misinformation. But GOP lawmakers in some states want the boards to back off.

Nicolas Montero, 16, wanted to get vaccinated but had to hide his plans from his parents, who are opposed to COVID-19 vaccination.

This 16-year-old wanted to get the COVID vaccine. He had to hide it from his parents

2:22pm February 16, 2022

by Nina Feldman

At 16, Nicolas Montero is old enough to get vaccinated on his own in some parts of the country. But he had to try to get the jabs without his parents knowing, since they're opposed to the vaccine.

Queue Listen Now

Nurse Tami Hampson and Dr. Vinay Shah with DispatchHealth arrive at the Wiese family's apartment for a medical visit on January 3, 2022.

Health & Safety

Acute care at home brings the hospital to patients' living rooms

2:06pm February 15, 2022

by Katherine Davis-Young

Hospitals are starting to provide health care in patients' homes, including things like x-rays and bloodwork. The approach saves a hospital bed for more urgent needs and lets patients heal in comfort.

In this June 8, 2021, photo provided by the The Ohio Channel, Dr. Sherri Tenpenny speaks at a Ohio House Health Committee in Columbus, Ohio. The Cleveland-based osteopathic doctor testified that COVID-19 vaccines cause magnetism. "They can put a key on th

Health & Safety

As state medical boards try to stamp out COVID misinformation, some in GOP push back

3:29pm February 14, 2022

by Blake Farmer

State medical boards have an obligation to investigate complaints about doctors, such as those who spread COVIC misinformation. But in Tennessee and other states, lawmakers are saying 'not so fast'

Chiquita Brooks-LaSure appears during a Senate Committee on Finance hearing for her nomination to be Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, United States Department of Health and Human Services, in Washington, D.C., on April 15, 2021.

Health & Safety

Why millions on Medicaid are at risk of losing coverage in the months ahead

12:17pm February 14, 2022

by Rachana Pradhan

During the pandemic, a federal mandate said state's could not kick people off Medicaid, even if they were no longer eligible for the benefit. That will change if the public health emergency is lifted.

Health workers share information about tuberculosis with residents of aslum neighborhoods in New Delhi. India has the greatest number of TB cases in the world.

Before COVID, TB was the world's worst pathogen. It's still a 'monster' killer

7:01am February 13, 2022

by Susan Brink

It was under control. And then it wasn't. In her new book Phantom Plague: How Tuberculosis Shaped History, VIdya Krishnan shows how "we repeat the same disease-spreading mistakes over and over."

Doctor Mara Gordon had always listened to her rational, reasonable inner voice when it came to diagnosing patients. But during a transformative period of her life — pregnancy — her experience has a doctor only heightened her anxiety.

Health & Safety

Becoming a parent means forgetting what I learned in medical school

6:00am February 13, 2022

by Mara Gordon

Dr. Mara Gordon spent ten years observing the health care system as a medical student and physician. When she got pregnant she finally understood how vulnerable it can feel to be a patient.

Dr. Mai Pham is an internist and former senior Medicare and Medicaid official with degrees from Harvard and Johns Hopkins universities, but she still struggled to find care for her son with autism, Alex Roodman.

Health & Safety

Kids with autism struggle to adapt to adulthood. One doctor is trying to change that

1:14pm February 12, 2022

by Noam Levey

Dr. Mai Pham left a corporate career to spark change in a system that is failing millions of Americans with autism and other intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Queue Listen Now

Health & Safety

Health care workers in Ottawa are being harassed protesters against COVID-19 mandates

8:13am February 12, 2022

by Scott Simon

In Ottawa, health care workers have reported being harassed by protesters who oppose Canada's vaccination policies. Scott Simon speaks to Dr. Alison Eyre, who works in the city center.

Nurse Sara Dean of Mount Juliet, Tenn., attends her daughter Harper's gymnastics practice. Dean spent nearly two years travelling the country as a nurse, gaining a much higher salary than she could at home.

Health & Safety

For travel nurses, jobs at home can't come close to pay they get on the road

12:53pm February 11, 2022

by Blake Farmer

The pandemic pay for traveling nurses was too good to pass up for many RNs. But some are ready to settle down at home, and they're finding full-time jobs aren't keeping up with salary increases.