NPR Topics: 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.

January is when drug makers typically hike their prices. This year, there’s a mixed bag of price increases and a few notable declines, such as on some forms of insulin.

NPR’s Scott Simon asks Kaiser Family Foundation Vice President Cynthia Cox why 2024 will be another record year for signups on Affordable Care Act health insurance exchanges.