Health & Safety

Health & Safety

Medicare has decided to sharply limit coverage of Aduhelm, a new Alzheimer drug

5:05am April 08, 2022

Medicare officials announced on Thursday that the health insurance program for older Americans will sharply limit coverage of a costly and controversial new Alzheimer's drug.

The at-home rapid COVID tests come in a double pack for a reason, says Dr. Celine Gounder. Use both tests that come in the box, she says. And use them a couple of days apart.

What to do if you test positive for COVID at this point in the pandemic

5:00am April 08, 2022

by Mary Louise Kelly

The coronavirus keeps evolving and so does the guidance for addressing it. As cases tick up in some parts of the country, here is the latest advice on everything from testing to treatment.

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Rep. Wes Allen, sponsor of the House version of the bill, speaks during debate at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery on Thursday.

Alabama Legislature votes to ban gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth

5:40pm April 07, 2022

by The Associated Press

State lawmakers also passed a separate measure prohibiting early classroom instruction on sexual and gender identity, a bill critics have dubbed "Don't Say Gay."

The White House is dropping COVID border restrictions. Republicans want them to stay

4:52pm April 07, 2022

A COVID aid bill that President Biden says is crucial to dealing with the next phase of the pandemic has been stalled as Republicans try to force the CDC to keep border restrictions in place.

What to do if you test positive for COVID at this point in the pandemic

4:36pm April 07, 2022

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with infectious disease specialist Dr. Celine Gounder about the evolving guidance around COVID and the tools we have to fight it.

Neighborhoods are separated by barriers as part of lockdown measures in Shanghai to prevent the spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant.

Health & Safety

Voices from Shanghai: The trials of living through a massive COVID lockdown

4:22pm April 07, 2022

by Emily Feng

China's lockdown and quarantine policy is testing the limits of the city of 26 million. Parents were separated from kids. And there's not enough staff for the elderly residents of care centers.

Kinder Eggs are one of the products being recalled across Europe and in Canada after salmonella outbreaks were traced back to a company plant in Belgium.

Health & Safety

Kinder Eggs and other chocolates are recalled due to a salmonella outbreak in Europe

3:31pm April 07, 2022

by Deepa Shivaram

The Kinder products are being recalled across Europe and Canada. It was not immediately clear whether the recall involved products sold in the United States.

A shard of shrapnel protrudes from a wall. City Hospital No. 2 has routinely operated on patients who've needed shrapnel and bullets extracted from their bodies.

Health & Safety

Doctors in Chernihiv bear witness to their hospital's fate after Russian shelling

3:22pm April 07, 2022

by Ari Daniel

It was a sunny day in mid-March. The sky was blue. It felt like spring. Then the attack began on City Hospital No. 2. Doctors tell what it was like — and what's going on now.

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How the abortion underground is prepping for a post-Roe v. Wade world

2:37pm April 07, 2022

by Terry Gross

Nomadland author and Atlantic journalist Jessica Bruder explains how health advocates and activists are preparing ways to provide abortions if Roe is either overturned or weakened by the SCOTUS.

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The continued death toll from COVID led to another drop in life expectancy in 2021.

Health & Safety

U.S. life expectancy falls for 2nd year in a row

12:53pm April 07, 2022

by Rob Stein

The pandemic drove U.S. life expectancy down again in 2021 even though life-saving vaccines were widely available.