Category: NPR

A public hospital in Los Angeles gets over 1,000 unidentified patients a year. Most are quickly ID’d, but some require considerable gumshoe work — a task often complicated by medical privacy laws.

Anesthesia revolutionized surgery by vanquishing patients’ pain. But many of the chemicals are greenhouse gases. One Oregon doctor who has done the math says some are much less damaging to the planet.

Behavior and environment are big factors in a surge in obesity. Scientists are busy trying to identify the many genes that play a role in weight gain to develop a predictive obesity test.

NPR’s Scott Simon speaks with Hilary Valdez, a nurse who wrote in after our last Bill of the Month story. She tells us about how high medical bills can affect nurses’ relationships with patients.

The average deductible for employer-sponsored health insurance has quadrupled in the last 12 years. A Los Angeles Times investigation finds even insured workers are going without needed medical care.

NPR’s Audie Cornish talks with Mary Ziegler, law professor at Florida State University, about a new federal rule that protects religious health care workers from performing abortion-related services.

The rule strengthens protections for health care providers, unwilling to provide services like abortions. Critics say it could put women’s health in danger.

A dengue vaccine put thousands of kids at risk for a deadly disorder. Some scientists says the manufacturer did too little to warn parents in the Philippines.

The House overwhelmingly passed a bill Tuesday that could become the country’s most restrictive abortion ban. It would make it a crime for doctors to perform abortions at any stage of a pregnancy.

The return of methamphetamine is overwhelming police, ERs and treatment centers — especially west of the Mississippi. But, unlike opioid dependency, meth addiction has no reliable treatment.