Category: NPR

How poverty and racism ‘weather’ the body, accelerating aging and disease

Public health professor Arline Geronimus explains how marginalized people suffer nearly constant stress, which damages their bodies at the cellular level. Her new book is Weathering.

The simple intervention that may keep Black moms healthier

A Boston hospital gets daily, home blood pressure checks for moms at risk for the pregnancy complication, pre-eclampsia. The effort is a response to alarming rates of Black maternal mortality.

Pay up, kid? An ER’s error sends a 4-year-old to collections

A Florida woman tried to dispute an emergency room bill, but the hospital and collection agency refused to talk to her — because it was her child’s name on the bill, not hers.

Drug shortages and national security

NPR’s Scott Detrow speaks with Marta Wosińska, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, about the rise in prescription drug shortages and what can be done to fix it.

80-hour weeks and roaches near your cot? More medical residents unionize

Part of a national trend, medical residents at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia push to form a union to demand better working conditions and higher wages. Child care is an important issue for many.

It’s not just Adderall: The number of drugs in short supply rose by 30% last year

A total of 295 types of drugs — everything from sedatives to children’s flu medicine — were in short supply in 2022, according to a new report from the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security.

Medicaid renewals are starting. Those who don’t reenroll could get kicked off

With a pandemic-era rule expiring this month, people on Medicaid will have to re-qualify to keep their coverage. Language barriers, housing instability and computer literacy could stand in their way.

As many as 18 million Americans may soon lose coverage and not realize it

A federal rule that prevents states from dropping people from Medicaid rolls during the pandemic expires at the end of March.

The story of one man who was diagnosed with colon cancer at age 35

Colon cancer is rising in younger adults. If you are in your 20s, 30s or 40s, you need to know the signs to watch for and when to seek screening or treatment.

California enters a contract to make its own affordable insulin

Under the $50 million deal, the state is partnering with drugmaker Civica to start making the new generic insulin later this year, Gov. Gavin Newsom said.