Medical Treatments

Dr. Nico Dosenbach decided to put his healthy arm in a cast to figure out more about how the brain deals with an immobilized limb.

A Scientist's Pink Cast Leads To Discovery About How The Brain Responds To Disability

3:02pm June 18, 2020

by Jon Hamilton

A neurologist who wanted to know how the brain changes in response to a physical disability put his arm in a pink cast for two weeks to find out.

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Cows with genes from the human immune system make antibodies that may help people fight the coronavirus.

Cows Help With COVID-19 Treatment, No Bull

9:20am June 17, 2020

by Joe Palca

Cattle may turn out to be of help in the coronavirus pandemic. A South Dakota biotech company is using cows to create antibodies that could then be used for disease prevention or treatment.

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Demonstrators on both sides of the abortion debate rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 19, 2018.

Study Examines The Lasting Effects Of Having — Or Being Denied — An Abortion

2:43pm June 16, 2020

by Terry Gross

In The Turnaway Study, Diana Greene Foster shares research conducted over 10 years with about 1,000 women who had or were denied abortions, tracking impacts on mental, physical and economic health.

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A COVID-19 patient is attached to a ventilator in April in the emergency room at St. Joseph's Medical Center in Yonkers, N.Y. A steroid treatment is showing promise in reducing mortality for patients on ventilators.

Early Results Show Benefit Of Steroid For Very Sick COVID-19 Patients

12:42pm June 16, 2020

by Joe Palca

A low-cost anti-inflammatory drug appears to reduce the risk of death in patients with COVID-19. The promising result comes from a large study of therapies being conducted in the U.K.

Costs have gone up for addiction treatment centers in recent months, as they have had to invest in teletherapy and personal protective gear. "We are at risk for not having the funding that we need to keep our doors open," says one medical director.

Health & Safety

A New Addiction Crisis: Treatment Centers Face Financial Collapse

5:59pm June 15, 2020

by Yuki Noguchi

Alcohol and drug consumption have increased recently, but fewer patients have sought treatment. Most treatment centers face possible closure even as they anticipate a post-pandemic surge in need.

Drivers line up for COVID-19 testing in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood of Los Angeles in May.

What Zebra Mussels Can Tell Us About Errors In Coronavirus Tests

4:41pm June 15, 2020

by Richard Harris

The standard test for infection with the coronavirus looks for a genetic fingerprint. Laboratory errors, including contamination, can lead to false results, a problem seen with environmental testing.

A bottle of hydroxychloroquine tablets in Texas City, Texas. The Food and Drug Administration has rescinded its emergency use authorization for the drug.

FDA Withdraws Emergency Use Authorization For Hydroxychloroquine

3:40pm June 15, 2020

by Joe Palca

Emergency use authorization makes it easier for doctors to use a drug in a manner not specifically approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA granted these drugs this status in March.

The lungs of a young woman in her 20s became so damaged by COVID-19 that she could not survive without her blood being oxygenated outside her body on an ECMO machine. She received a double-lung transplant on June 5. In this photo taken before the transpla

Health & Safety

1st-Known U.S. Lung Transplant For COVID-19 Patient Performed In Chicago

10:25am June 12, 2020

by Christine Herman

A young woman in her 20s was healthy before the coronavirus struck her. After two months on a ventilator and ECMO device, her transplanted lungs are now working.

A volunteer received a shot of the experimental Moderna vaccine against COVID-19 in March as part of a safety study.

Health & Safety

Questions About How Crash Program Is Picking Coronavirus Vaccines To Back

7:13am June 12, 2020

by Sydney Lupkin

As Operation Warp Speed pushes to develop a COVID-19 vaccine in record time, the number of candidates is being narrowed. The factors guiding the decisions about which projects to fund is unclear.

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Kelly Womochil, an aide at Enterprise Estates Nursing Center in Enterprise, Kan., tries on a poncho that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is sending to nursing homes to protect against the coronavirus.

Health & Safety

Nursing Homes Run Short Of COVID-19 Protective Gear As Federal Response Falters

7:39pm June 11, 2020

by Jordan Rau

At least 711 nursing homes reported running out of N95 masks at the end of May, and 1,963 said they had less than a week's worth. "The federal government has got to step up," says one advocate.