health care

An overdose rescue kit handed out at an overdose prevention class this summer in New York City includes an injectable form of the drug naloxone.

Health & Safety

Counting The Heavy Cost Of Care In The Age Of Opioids

11:00am October 28, 2017

by Allison Aubrey

The city of Baltimore says it needs more money to distribute a lifesaving opioid overdose medication. And a recent study finds the cost of treating overdoses in U.S. hospital ICUs has risen sharply.

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How Consumers Could Be Affected If CVS And Aetna Merge

4:50pm October 27, 2017

NPR's Kelly McEvers talks with Amanda Starc, associate professor of strategy at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management, about the implications of a potential CVS and Aetna merger. She says that consumers will probably not see a reduction in their prescription drug prices, if the deal goes through.

In every group the researchers studied, the more marijuana people smoked the more sex they reported having.

Does Smoking Pot Lead To More Sex?

10:39am October 27, 2017

by Angus Chen

Surveys of 50,000 people found that those who smoked marijuana had sex more often than those who abstained from the drug. What is unclear is whether other factors explain the apparent link.

Trump Declares Opioid Crisis A Public Health Emergency

11:46pm October 26, 2017

by Tamara Keith

Today, President Trump declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency. What difference will that make in the effort to fight the problem?

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Addiction Prevention Advocate On Trump's Public Health Emergency Declaration

11:46pm October 26, 2017

Gary Mendell lost his son to addiction in 2011, and went on to form the group Shatterproof, which advocates for better prevention and treatment for addiction. He was at the White House today to hear President Trump's announcement designating the nation's opioid crisis a public health emergency, and he shares his reactions with NPR's Robert Siegel.

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A man checks out an anti-overdose kit he was given at a clinic. With America confronting an opioid epidemic, Walgreens says it will stock naloxone spray at all of its pharmacies.

Narcan Opioid Overdose Spray Is Now Stocked By All Walgreens Pharmacies

5:43pm October 26, 2017

by Bill Chappell

Letting people get the medicine "without an individual prescription in 45 states is critical in combating this crisis," says the CEO of Narcan maker Adapt Pharma.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 140 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose.

Trump Administration Declares Opioid Crisis A Public Health Emergency

3:20pm October 26, 2017

by Greg Allen

The move stops short of declaring a national emergency, which the president had pledged to do.

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Reductions In Federal Funding For Health Law Navigators Cut Unevenly

1:39pm October 26, 2017

by Alex Olgin

North and South Carolina have very different outlooks since the Trump administration cut funding for the helpers who assist people signing up for health insurance.

Health & Safety

Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center Will Acquire High Point Regional Health

4:47pm October 25, 2017

by Bethany Chafin

Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem is set to acquire High Point Regional Health.

"Obamacare gives states very little flexibility for innovation," said Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, after withdrawing the state's insurance waiver request.

Health & Safety

Administration Denies More States' Plans To Customize Insurance Markets

4:00pm October 24, 2017

by Alison Kodjak

Proposals from Iowa and Massachusetts to create reinsurance that would lower health insurance premiums didn't get off the ground.