Medical Treatments

The federal government wants to roll out another round of COVID-19 boosters this fall but drugmakers are still testing the new boosters. The Food and Drug Administration has said it will base its evaluation of the boosters on data from mouse studies, in a

What's behind the FDA's controversial strategy for evaluating new COVID boosters

5:04am August 18, 2022

by Rob Stein

Some scientists are alarmed that the agency plans to evaluate the next generation of boosters by reviewing mouse studies alone. Others say there's no time to waste waiting for human trials.

Hearing aids could be available over the counter as soon as October

4:50pm August 16, 2022

by Maria Godoy

The Food and Drug Administration announced that hearing aids, which typically need a prescription, will be available over the counter — making them more accessible and affordable, activists say.

Rural communities with struggling hospitals often turn to outside investors willing to take over their health care centers. Some are willing to sell the hospitals for next to nothing to companies that promise to keep them running.

Health & Safety

Buy a rural hospital for $100? Investors pick up struggling institutions for pennies

12:03pm August 16, 2022

by Blake Farmer

Some rural hospitals are in such bad shape, they're selling for next to nothing. One company is snapping several distressed or closed hospitals in rural Tennessee, hoping to turn a profit.

Abortion-rights advocates are using social media to reach young people who have more questions than ever about how to get an abortion.

Health & Safety

Long uncertain, young people's access to abortion is more complicated than ever

7:00am August 13, 2022

by Megan Burbank

As more states restrict abortion, the obstacles for minors who need the procedure are growing. Abortion-rights advocates warn the legal upheaval is leaving young people confused and without options.

A room in a Planned Parenthood of Illinois clinic in Waukegan, where abortion providers from Wisconsin are helping to provide access to more patients from their home state now that abortion is nearly banned there.

Abortion is legal in Illinois. In Wisconsin, it's nearly banned. So clinics teamed up

6:06am August 11, 2022

by Kristen Schorsch

After Wisconsin left an 1849 near-total abortion ban in place, some providers began commuting to Illinois to treat patients. These Planned Parenthood partnerships could be a model for the future.

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The FDA is not expanding eligibility for 2nd COVID boosters

4:34pm August 04, 2022

by Rob Stein

The Food and Drug Administration's decision against allowing more people to get second boosters has left many younger adults in limbo and angry.

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A team of volunteers with an Ohio-based nonprofit handed out 2,500 doses of a nasal spray version of naloxone, an overdose reversal drug, at this year's Bonnaroo music festival.

Overdose reversal drugs gain support at music festivals, but not fentanyl test strips

6:24am August 03, 2022

by Blake Farmer

Festival promoters are allowing lifesaving medication as fentanyl deaths surge, but volunteers are often left to distribute it, and more controversial forms of harm reduction aren't openly allowed.

At an international meeting, Alzheimer's researchers are assessing what comes next

5:50pm August 02, 2022

by Jon Hamilton

Experimental drugs for Alzheimer's disease have been a disappointment so far. Researchers at the Alzheimer's Association International Meeting in San Diego trying to figure out what comes next.

Scientists say research into Alzheimer's needs to take a broader view of how the disease affects the brain — whether that's changes in the cortex or the role of inflammation.

Health & Safety

Alzheimer's researchers are looking beyond plaques and tangles for new treatments

5:04am August 01, 2022

by Jon Hamilton

An atlas showing how Alzheimer's changes individual brain cells could help researchers find new treatments for the disease.

Can the monkeypox outbreak be stopped? Some experts say its too late

2:25pm July 30, 2022

There's increasing concern that the window of opportunity to contain the monkeypox outbreak in the U.S. has closed. Some experts say it's already too late.

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