Medical Treatments

Kyle Planck, who has recovered from a painful case of monkeypox, has joined advocacy groups and pleaded with elected officials to make the antiviral pills TPOXX more available.

Getting monkeypox treatment is easier, but still daunting and confusing

5:01am July 30, 2022

by Pien Huang

Though doctors and advocates have helped speed up access to the antiviral pills – of which the U.S. has enough to treat 1.7 million people – health providers are few and forms are still required.

Insurers are complying with federal rules aimed at price transparency that took effect July 1, but consumer use of the data may have to wait until private firms synthesize it.

Health insurance prices for care are now out there, but finding them is an ordeal

10:25am July 27, 2022

by Julie Appleby

A dump of tens of thousands of colossal digital files from a single insurer is not unusual, and it'll be weeks before data firms can put the information in a usable format for employers and patients.

Dr. Fauci on federal response to monkeypox and COVID

4:57pm July 26, 2022

NPR's Juana Summers talks with Dr. Anthony Fauci about the Biden administration's response to the monkeypox outbreak and the current COVID-19 omicron variant surge.

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Brandi Carlile (right) introduces Joni Mitchell for a special Joni Jam at the 2022 Newport Folk Festival at Fort Adams State Park, R.I., on Sunday.

Here's why Joni Mitchell's performance at the Newport Folk Festival is so incredible

1:08pm July 26, 2022

by Vanessa Romo

The iconic singer-songwriter wasn't able to walk or talk after a brain aneurysm in 2015. Dr. Anthony Wang, a neurosurgeon, explains the challenges she faced as a musician and her remarkable comeback.

Kristi Alcayaga's teenage son, Michael, was able to try a cancer drug called clofarabine that got an accelerated approval from the Food and Drug Administration. But the medicine didn't help him.

Health & Safety

5 things to know about the FDA's flawed approach to accelerated drug approvals

10:32am July 25, 2022

by Sydney Lupkin

An NPR investigation found stalled confirmatory trials and lax enforcement are plaguing the FDA's accelerated approval of drugs for urgent medical needs.

Health & Safety

Drugmakers are slow to prove medicines that got a fast track to market really work

3:50pm July 22, 2022

by Sydney Lupkin

Stalled confirmatory trials and lax enforcement plague the Food and Drug Administration's accelerated approval pathway for pharmaceuticals that target urgent medical needs.

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Some fast-tracked drugs are tardy doing their trials to get regular FDA approval

4:40pm July 21, 2022

by Sydney Lupkin

Stalled confirmatory trials and lax enforcement plague the Food and Drug Administration's accelerated approval pathway for pharmaceuticals that target urgent medical needs.

In states that outlaw abortion, some patients and health care workers worry that in vitro fertilization could be in legal jeopardy too.

Infertility patients fear abortion bans could affect access to IVF treatment

5:04am July 21, 2022

by Michelle Jokisch Polo

As more states outlaw abortion, some define human life as starting at fertilization. Some patients and health care workers worry that this could jeopardize in vitro fertilization treatments.

People under 50 might have a chance at a second booster shot the summer depending what federal health officials decide. Those 50 and older have been eligible for the shots since March.

Health & Safety

U.S. debates a summer booster for people under 50

2:37pm July 20, 2022

by Rob Stein

The Biden administration is considering expanding eligibility for a second COVID-19 booster to those under 50 to try to protect more people against the latest omicron surge.

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Four American soldiers carry a wounded soldier on a stretcher in Vaux, France, on July 22, 1918. As many as 280,000 World War I combatants were left with facial injuries.

With no textbooks or antibiotics, this WWI surgeon pioneered facial reconstruction

1:40pm July 20, 2022

by Dave Davies

Medical historian Lindsey Fitzharris tells the story Dr. Harold Gillies, a military surgeon who spent WWI reconstructing the faces of soldiers and sailors who'd suffered horrific facial injuries.

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