Category: Health

Keely Larson HELENA, Mont. — State lawmakers from both parties have shown support for a plan to stop the practice of committing people with Alzheimer’s disease, other types of dementia, or traumatic brain injuries without their consent to the troubled Montana State Hospital and instead direct them to treatment in their communities. But a budget […]

Mineka Furtch wasn’t bothered by the idea of morning sickness after going through a miscarriage and the roller coaster of fertility medication before she finally became pregnant with her son. But when the 29-year-old from suburban Atlanta was five weeks pregnant in 2020, she started throwing up and couldn’t stop. Some days she kept down […]

This is shaping up as a critical year in the country’s battle over abortion rights, as both sides struggle to define a new status quo after the Supreme Court struck down the nearly half-century-old constitutional right last year. It is important not to misread what happened in 2022. After a 6-3 majority of justices overturned […]

Angela Hart and Samantha Young California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Thursday sued the six major companies that dominate the U.S. insulin market, ratcheting up the state’s assault on a profitable industry for artificially jacking up prices and making the indispensable drug less accessible for diabetes patients.  The 47-page civil complaint alleges three pharmaceutical companies […]

The Host Having spent its entire first week choosing a speaker, the Republican-led U.S. House finally got down to legislative business, including passing two bills backed by anti-abortion groups. Neither is likely to become law, because they won’t pass the Senate nor be signed by President Joe Biden. But the move highlights how abortion is […]

BATON ROUGE, La. — When Kaitlyn Joshua found out she was pregnant in mid-August, she and her husband, Landon Joshua, were excited to have a second baby on the way. They have a 4-year-old daughter and thought that was just the right age to help with a younger sibling. At about six weeks pregnant, Joshua, […]

Sam Whitehead One evening in February 2017, Sarah Dudley’s husband, Joseph, started to feel sick. He had a high fever, his head and body ached, and he seemed disoriented, she said. The Dudleys had a decision to make: go to the hospital emergency room or to an urgent care clinic near their home in Des […]

Each state has its own laws governing the investigation of violent and unexplained deaths, and the expertise and training of those in charge of such investigations vary widely across the nation. The job can be held by an elected coroner as young as 18 or a highly trained physician appointed as medical examiner. Rulings on […]

Controlled substances became a little less controlled during the pandemic. That benefited both patients (for their health) and telehealth startups (to make money). Some potentially addictive medications — like buprenorphine and Adderall — are now far more available online to patients because of regulatory changes. Given the scarcity of qualified doctors to treat some of […]

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. — Most of the 30 volunteers who work at the 130-bed, for-profit East Cooper Medical Center spend their days assisting surgical patients — the scope of their duties extending far beyond those of candy stripers, baby cuddlers, and gift shop clerks. In fact, one-third of the volunteers at the Tenet Healthcare-owned hospital […]