Category: Health

[Editor’s note: In 2019, federal lab regulators ordered the prestigious U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases to halt all work with dangerous pathogens, such as Ebola and anthrax, which can pose a severe threat to public health and safety. Army officials had assured the public there was no safety threat and indicated that […]

Marcus Cummins grew up dreaming of becoming a doctor, but the Central Valley, California, native didn’t have Black physicians to look up to. At times he doubted himself, but he credits the determination he developed as a receiver on the University of California-Davis football team to get him through his studies. “Being a collegiate athlete […]

(Oona Tempest / KFF Health News) In the 1990s, residents of Mexico City noticed their dogs acting strangely — some didn’t recognize their owners, and the animals’ sleep patterns had changed. At the time, the sprawling, mountain-ringed city of more than 15 million people was known as the most polluted in the world, with a […]

The Supreme Court has ruled that the abortion pill mifepristone should remain widely available for now, a decision that maintains access to the drug while the lower courts consider the issue. Julie Rovner, KFF Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, appeared on NPR’s “Weekend All Things Considered” to explain the complicated, even contradictory court decisions surrounding […]

MIAMI — In 2018, Mike Ferraro was living on the street and sharing needles with other people who injected drugs when he found out he was HIV-positive. “I thought it was a death sentence, where you have sores and you deteriorate,” he said. Ferraro learned of his HIV status through a University of Miami Miller […]

If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or the Crisis Text Line by texting “HOME” to 741741. In Canada, call Talk Suicide Canada at 1-833-456-4566 or text 45645 from 4 p.m.-midnight ET. WAKEFIELD, Jamaica — The boxer felt […]

Early in President Joe Biden’s tenure, his administration promised to play a key role in ensuring opioid settlement funds went toward tackling the nation’s addiction crisis. During the 2020 campaign, Biden had laid out a plan to appoint an “opioid crisis accountability coordinator” to support states in their lawsuits against companies accused of sparking the […]

On April 13, Democratic Rep. Zooey Zephyr was sitting in the basement of Montana’s Capitol building reflecting on her time as one of the state’s first two openly transgender legislators. She wondered whether she needed to display more anger over anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, or whether she should focus on promoting more of what she called “transgender […]

The Host Supreme Court justices could act at any moment on access to the abortion pill mifepristone. Beyond reproductive health, their ruling could carry significant implications for states’ rights and FDA independence and integrity. For now, though, observers are unsure what the court will do — or what exactly prompted justices to again delay their […]

Seven months after Lahavah Wallace’s weight loss operation, a New York bariatric surgery practice sued her, accusing her of “intentionally” failing to pay nearly $18,000 of her bill. Long Island Minimally Invasive Surgery, which does business as the New York Bariatric Group, went on to accuse Wallace of “embezzlement,” alleging she kept insurance payments that […]