Undocumented patients with kidney disease often can't get treatment unless they are in a state of emergency — this bothers clinicians who want to treat all patients equally.
The latest installment in our Bill of the Month series about a huge bill for four orthopedic screws drew lots of responses from readers and listeners. Some had ideas for improving the health system.
The Trump administration is pulling out an old regulation that it believes will be able to meet a conservative goal: cutting a key program's funding for Planned Parenthood. The strategy might work.
An antibody-based drug reduces the frequency of migraine headaches, according to data reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration. The agency approved Aimovig, priced at about $6,900 a year.
A working group convened by the National Institutes of Health looked at where chimps that had been used in research should live now. Unless relocating chimps would endanger them, a sanctuary is best.
The Army tells NPR of plans to monitor blast exposure across a military career, to enforce limits on firing certain weapons, and to even look into whether special helmets could help stop blast waves.
Celgene Corp. has thwarted rival drugmakers eager to make cheaper versions of medicines for a form of blood cancer. Now administration officials are criticizing practices they say hold generics back.
An aggressive type of breast cancer — a HER2-positive tumor — often shrinks with Herceptin treatment, but side effects can be tough. Researchers say a shorter course of the drug may be a good option.
Scientists are trying to figure out how green-blooded lizards might benefit from the unusual pigment. The answer could provide new insights into human illnesses like jaundice and malaria.
Opioid addiction is often portrayed as a white problem, but overdose rates are now rising faster among Latinos and blacks. Cultural and linguistic barriers may put Latinos at greater risk.
City supervisors tried to ban menthol cigarettes and vape flavors in 2017, but tobacco purveyors funded a drive to put the measure to voters instead. Now dueling ads vie for hearts and minds.
The number of children and teens who visited the hospital for suicidal thoughts or attempts doubled from 2008 to 2015. Rates were highest during the school year.
Author Michael Pollan, who experimented with mushrooms, LSD and other psychedelics while researching his latest book, says: "I had an experience that was by turns frightening and ecstatic and weird."
Up to 16 million people in the U.S. have undiagnosed or uncorrected vision errors that could be helped by glasses, contact lenses or surgery. But many health plans don't include routine vision care.
After criticism that the administration's blueprint for drug prices was vague, the secretary of health and human services zeroed in on actions that he said need only his signature.
A woman with foot pain was floored by the high cost of titanium screws used in her surgery. "Unless the metal [was] mined on an asteroid, I do not know why it should cost that amount," she said.
Despite a federal ban on funding the study of gun violence, researchers have published hundreds of studies in recent years exploring risk factors and solutions to the problem.
Two big studies aim to rigorously test what could be a revolutionary treatment for a common and deadly disease: sepsis. Many doctors are awaiting the results before changing their practice.
A proposed change in immigration policy from the Trump administration could make it harder for immigrants to obtain a green card if family members use Medicaid, WIC or other federal medical benefits.
U.S. law prohibits people on Medicare from using the discount coupons the makers of expensive medicines offer. The law aims to reduce federal drug spending and Medicare fraud, but can feel unfair.
Diseases like cancer involve changes that occur inside a cell — and usually out of sight. A new technology can reveal a cell's inner workings, using inexpensive graphics processors from video games.
