A Prescription To Reduce Waste In Health Care Spending
A ProPublica series has illuminated the many ways the U.S. health care system leaks money. Here are some ideas for plugging the holes.
Medical Treatments
Scientists Use Gene Editing To Prevent A Form Of Deafness In Mice
Success with a new gene-editing technique in mice prone to deafness highlights the potential for using it to prevent a form of inherited hearing loss in humans. But it has many hurdles to overcome.
First Gene Therapy For Inherited Disease Gets FDA Approval
The Food and Drug Administration approved Luxturna, a genetically modified virus that restores by ferrying a healthy gene into the eyes of patients born with a genetic disease that impairs sight.
Fight The Opioid Epidemic, All Agree. But Strategies Vary Widely
Officials across Arizona agree that the state must solve its growing opioid problem. But some people fear that several strategies under consideration encourage drug use.
GOP Tax Bill Leaves Health Savings Accounts Untouched
Republicans tried last summer to expand the use of these tax-advantaged accounts that are linked to high-deductible health plans. But their expansion proposal didn't make it into the tax bill.
Food And Drug Administration Plans Crackdown On Risky Homeopathic Remedies
FDA says homeopathy has grown into a $3 billion industry with treatments being sold for conditions ranging from the common cold to cancer. The agency will prioritize action against unsafe products.
Could A Zap To The Brain Derail Destructive Impulses?
A brain implant already used to treat severe epilepsy might also help fend off impulses to abuse drugs or overeat before they happen, researchers say. But so far it's been tested mostly in mice.
Reverberations Of War Complicate Vietnam Veterans' End-Of-Life Care
For Vietnam veterans who have lived a lifetime with the memories of war, what some say they want in death is often more nuanced and complicated than a civilian's desire.
VIDEO: For LSD, What A Long Strange Trip It's Been
It's been reviled and revered, criminalized and exploited by the CIA. And now and other psychedelic drugs are being tested as legitimate medical treatments. NPR's original animation tells the tale.
Want Help Explaining A Medical Procedure? Ask A 9-Year-Old
Much of the information doctors hand patients before surgery is too complex and hard to understand. So British researchers asked 9-year-olds to rewrite a brochure about a hip replacement.