-
![]()
Eric Risberg / AP A Plan to Keep Dying Patients' Drugs From Fueling Addiction
The opioids bill that passed Congress includes a measure to let hospice workers destroy unneeded medications.
-
![]()
Lucy Nicholson / Reuters Giving Clinicians More Say in Court-Ordered Rehab Could Lead to Longer Jail Times
In California, a commitment to evidence-based care may be delaying treatment for criminal offenders.
-
![]()
Heidi de Marco / KHN The Deportation Fears of Immigrants With Disabled Children
If the parents are picked up by immigration authorities, what happens to their kids?
-
![]()
Toby Talbot / AP The California Doctors Who Found a Way to Quit Overprescribing Opioids
An innovative program has helped patients taper off addictive painkillers, but is it cutting some people off from the medications they need?
-
![]()
drpnncpptak / Shutterstock A Good Night's Sleep May Shorten Kids' Hospital Stays
Doctors are trying out new ways to give sick children better shut-eye.
-
![]()
Misha Friedman for NPR / Kaiser Health News A Shortage of Genetic Counselors
The number of professionals available to help patients parse through testing results simply isn’t keeping pace with spiking demand.
-
![]()
Sarah Jane Tribble / WCPN Weaning the Youngest Opioid Patients
Easing newborn babies out of methadone dependence can be a delicate, difficult task.
-
![]()
Heidi de Marco / Kaiser Health News Getting Primary Care at the Psychiatrist’s Office
Some mental-health practices are transforming themselves into health-care hubs for patients who would otherwise fall through the cracks.
-
![]()
Mel Evans / AP Boston’s Safe Space for Heroin Users
The city is establishing a room where people can ride out their high under medical supervision—and, the organizers hope, find their way into addiction treatment.
-
![]()
Regis Duvignau / Reuters The End of the Stethoscope?
Some doctors say that new diagnostic technology eliminates the need for the time-honored medical tool.
-
![]()
Heidi de Marco / Kaiser Health News When Nursing Homes Abandon Their Residents
After emergency hospitalizations, a handful of California seniors have been denied readmission to their assisted-living facilities—and now, they're suing the state to help them get back in.
-
![]()
Ed Andrieski / AP Why Fertility Treatments Aren’t Covered for Veterans
The U.S. government will help active-duty soldiers with the cost of IVF, but those who have left the military don’t have the same benefit—even when combat injuries make it impossible to have kids otherwise.
-
![]()
Andrew Kelly / Reuters Rural Hospitals Are Shutting Down Their Delivery Rooms
A growing number of facilities have eliminated their obstetrics units, leaving women to make long trips for prenatal care and birth.
-
![]()
Alex Brandon / AP The Muddled Future of Reproductive Rights
Justice Scalia’s death throws cases pending before the U.S. Supreme Court on abortion and contraception coverage into doubt.
-
![]()
TimBurgess / Shutterstock When the Only Ambulance Is a Helicopter
In rural areas far from hospitals, an emergency may mean taking a flight—but these lifesaving trips can come with a crushingly high price tag.
-
![]()
Umit Bektas / Reuters A Civilian Career for Military Medics
A new training program helps them find health-care jobs back home by filling in the gaps in their medical knowledge.
-
![]()
Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters The Risks of Overusing CT Scans
They’re linked to higher rates of cancer—and they’re medically unnecessary in up to 50 percent of cases—but health experts are having a hard time curbing their use.
-
![]()
Peter Steffen / dpa / Corbis How Obesity Is Changing Care for the Elderly
Many nursing homes aren’t equipped to handle the needs of their obese patients.
-
![]()
Hyungwon Kang / Reuters The Risks of Over-the-Counter Diabetes Treatment
Buying insulin without a prescription is an affordable option for diabetic patients without insurance. It’s also an easy way for people to inadvertently harm themselves.
-
![]()
Samantha Mitchell / Corbis The Unregulated Rise of the Medical Scribe
Demand for note-keepers in doctors’ offices is booming, but standards and training haven’t caught up.
