Medical Treatments

Pharmacy technician Peggy Gillespie fills a syringe with an antibiotic at ProMedica Toledo Hospital in Toledo, Ohio, in January.

Health & Safety

Drugmaker Created To Reduce Shortages And Prices Unveils Its First Products

5:05pm May 15, 2019

by Selena Simmons-Duffin

Civica Rx has plans to become an alternative source of generic drugs at reasonable prices for hospitals. The company's first medicines will be the antibiotics vancomycin and daptomycin.

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Dr. Randall Bly, an assistant professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at the University of Washington School of Medicine who practices at Seattle Children's Hospital, uses the experimental smartphone app and a paper funnel to check his daughter'

Health & Safety

A Smartphone App And A Paper Funnel Could Help Parents Diagnose Kids' Ear Infections

4:18pm May 15, 2019

by Richard Harris

While there are thousands of health-related apps around, one being developed at the University of Washington stands out because it uses a phone's microphone and speaker to make a a medical call.

Health & Safety

It's Not Just Measles. What You Should Know About Vaccines For Adults

1:31pm May 15, 2019

by Mara Gordon

Many people don't know which shots they need as they get older. And the vaccines can be tougher to keep track of because many adults go to the doctor less frequently than kids do.

Signs advertising free measles vaccines and providing information about measles are displayed at the Rockland County Health Department in Pomona, N.Y. The county in New York City's northern suburbs has had more than 200 measles cases since last fall.

Health & Safety

How Public Health Outreach Ended A 1990s Measles Outbreak And What's Different Now

7:21pm May 13, 2019

by Gwynne Hogan

This year's measles outbreak is the largest in recent memory. But from 1989 to 1991, more than 55,000 people got measles. Federal funding and parents embracing vaccines halted the outbreak.

Copperhead snakes are one of the four kinds of venomous snakes in the United States.

How You (And Your Dog) Can Avoid Snake Bites — And What To Do If You Get Bitten

5:40pm May 12, 2019

by Patti Neighmond

It was a warm, wet winter this year across much of the U.S., which means more snakes and a higher risk of bites. Here are some tips for avoiding vipers and their venom.

In most states, undocumented immigrants with kidney failure have to receive dialysis as an emergency treatment in hospital emergency rooms. Some advocates say kidney transplants for undocumented immigrants would be a cheaper way to treat the problem.

Transplants A Cheaper, Better Option For Undocumented Immigrants With Kidney Failure

5:22pm May 12, 2019

by Eilis O'Neill

Across the country, there are about 6,500 undocumented immigrants with kidney failure, according to the National Institutes of Health. What kind of care they get depends on where they live.

An FDA inspection of this Ranbaxy facility in Toansa, Punjab, India, in 2014, revealed drug quality testing violations, resulting in the FDA prohibiting Ranbaxy from marketing drugs in the U.S. that were manufactured at this plant.

Health & Safety

'Bottle Of Lies' Exposes The Dark Side Of The Generic Drug Boom

12:52pm May 12, 2019

by Jonathan Lambert

A new book investigates the history of unsafe and deceptive practices by some generic drug manufacturers, and explains why U.S. regulators struggle to keep up with a global industry.

Just as sleep deprivation has been shown to impair cognition, so too has it been found to dampen empathy for others.

Health & Safety

Opinion: Keep Limits Intact On Medical Residents' Work Hours

2:19pm May 10, 2019

by Clayton Dalton

Caps on shift lengths for medical residents were implemented to improve patient safety. Given the effects of sleep deprivation on emotional capacity and residents' well-being, why risk longer hours?

An MRI scan shows signs of atrophy in the brain of a patient with Huntington's disease.

Health & Safety

Experimental Drug For Huntington's Disease Jams Malfunctioning Gene

5:26pm May 09, 2019

by Richard Harris

More than 600 people will take part in study to test a promising treatment for Huntington's disease, a fatal inherited condition. The experimental drug interferes with defective genetic machinery.

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The director of the Denver campaign told NPR that the results from the vote shows that society's perception of psychedelics has changed.

In Close Vote, Denver Becomes 1st U.S. City To Decriminalize Psychedelic Mushrooms

4:24pm May 09, 2019

by Esther Honig

The action doesn't legalize psilocybin mushrooms, but it effectively bars the city from prosecuting or arresting adults 21 or older who possess them.