A new Texas law says hospitals and insurers will have to work it out when they can't agree on a price — instead of sending huge unexpected bills to patients.
Many users now mix opioids with stimulants such as meth and cocaine. Researchers say efforts to get doctors to reduce opioid prescriptions may have driven some users to buy meth on the street instead.
Texas is the latest state to pass a law to shield patients from surprise medical bills. These bills are often sent to patients who unintentionally go out of network, sometimes in emergencies.
Physician Louise Aronson treats patients who are in their 60s — as well as those who are older than 100. She writes about changing approaches to elder health care in her book Elderhood.
The Senate majority leader wants to raise the age for tobacco sales to 21. An NPR review of once-secret documents shows how closely McConnell has worked with the industry over decades.
NPR's Noel King talks to Deborah Malac, U.S. ambassador to Uganda, about the recent deaths there from Ebola. In neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo, the death toll is higher.
A service called neuromonitoring can cut the risk of nerve damage during delicate surgery. But some patients are receiving large bills they didn't expect.
If finalized, such a deal could funnel tens of billions of dollars to American communities struggling with the addiction crisis, while restoring stability to one of the country's biggest industries.
Humans have been smoking pot to get high since the first millennium B.C. Archaeologists have found early evidence of cannabis use from wooden bowls exhumed from ancient tombs in western China.
The agency says that while the outbreak in central Africa is taking a heavy toll, there is still a low threat that it will spread beyond its current region.