NPR Topics: Health Care

This week marks four years since the outbreak of Covid-19 was officially declared a pandemic. One of the most vexing legacies — one that science still hasn’t solved — is long Covid. That’s the debilitating condition that can develop in the aftermath of an infection.

Millions of Americans are living with the often debilitating symptoms that can include brain fog, shortness of breath, and low energy. Some struggle with simple daily living tasks like laundry and cooking.

Four years since the pandemic hit, patients with long Covid are still fighting for answers.

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NPR’s A Martinez visits a clinic in Reno to explore the issues residents of northern Nevada face accessing health care.

A walk-out by South Korean doctors has hobbled the country’s medical system. Most of them have defied a government ultimatum to return to work by Thursday.

The CDC said Americans 65 and older should get another dose of the updated vaccine that became available in September — if at least four months has passed since their last shot.

A measles outbreak in a Florida elementary school flummoxes public health experts, who say the state surgeon general’s response contradicts established public health measures to contain the virus.

A string of Massachusetts hospitals owned by Steward Health Care are deep in debt and in danger of closing. The situation threatens patients in Massachusetts and other states where Steward operates.

Brian Mann covers the U-S opioid and fentanyl crisis for NPR. That means he talks to a lot of people struggling with addiction. Again and again, he’s heard stories of people who have succumbed to their addiction — last year 112, 000 — more than ever in history.

But when Mann traveled to Portugal to report on that country’s model for dealing with the opioid crisis, he heard a very different story. Overdose deaths in Portugal are extremely rare.

The country has taken a radically different approach to drugs – decriminalizing small amounts and publicly funding addiction services – including sites where people can use drugs like crack and heroin.

Portugal treats addiction as an illness rather than a crime. No one has to pay for addiction care, and no one scrambles to navigate a poorly regulated recovery system. Could Portugal’s approach help the U-S fight its opioid epidemic?

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The online pharmacy of entrepreneur Mark Cuban is adding two brand new Bayer drugs to its disruptor model, which relies on a radical transparency compared to the rest of the industry.

Since Texas banned nearly all abortions, some providers have left the state. A look at one doctor who moved his entire practice — including the staff — to neighboring New Mexico.

Preliminary numbers show 21.3 million American signed up for Obamacare this year — a huge increase since Biden took office. 15 million people, however, have also been kicked off of Medicaid.