Medicine

Insights into the healthcare system and the latest in pharmaceutical development.

Latest in Medicine

boxes of the diabetes drug Ozempic rest on a pharmacy counter
Health

New weight loss drugs are confusing, expensive, and inaccessible to some older patients

By Judith Graham / KFF Health News

Futuristic doctor performs medical procedure on astronaut in space with robotic arms. Saturn can be seen outside of the spaceship window. Illustrated in blues and pinks.
Health

5 space robots that could heal human bodies—or even grow new ones

By Tatyana Woodall

Airplane in a clear sky.
Health

Flying with human organs for transplant is tricky—a new law could help

By Colleen DeGuzman/KFF Health News

Cod fish heads
Environment

No guts left behind: Iceland’s quest to repurpose fish waste

By Lela Nargi/Hakai Magazine

A preterm baby in an incubator in a neonatal intensive care unit. RSV sends about 58,000 children under five to the hospital every year in the United States.
Health

FDA approves long-acting medication to protect babies from RSV

By Laura Baisas

Rows of birth control pills with the days of the week on the label.
Health

FDA approves first over-the-counter birth control pill in the US

By Laura Baisas

Screenshot of inching magnetic soft robot
Technology

This magnetic robot could worm its way into human blood vessels

By Andrew Paul

A doctor points to multiple MRI's of the brain. A newly approved drug targets beta-amyloid, a brain protein that has long been believed by scientists to be one of the underlying causes of Alzheimer’s disease.
Health

Alzheimer’s-slowing drug Leqembi gains full FDA approval

By Laura Baisas

Person making online purchase.
Technology

Facebook could be tracking your online Plan B or HIV test purchases

By Simon Fondrie-Teitler/The Markup, Darius Tahir / KFF Health News

Prescription bottles
Health

Rural patients could suffer if the DEA restricts telehealth prescribing

By Arielle Zionts/KHN

A Cryo-EM map of a Fanzor protein indicated by gray, yellow, light blue, and pink in complex with ωRNA indicated in purple and its target DNA in red. Non-target DNA strand in blue.
Science

These organisms have a natural gene-editing system that could be more useful than CRISPR

By Laura Baisas

This pangolin-inspired robot can curl up into a healing ball
Technology

This pangolin-inspired robot can curl up into a healing ball

By Andrew Paul

Scores of critical lab tests fall into a regulatory void. The FDA is trying to close it.
Health

Scores of critical lab tests fall into a regulatory void. The FDA is trying to close it.

By Anna Clark/ProPublica

Karyotype of human chromosomes including sex chromosomes XY and XX
Health

Men lose Y chromosomes with age, and it might increase their risk of bladder cancer

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

back of head, ponytail
Health

Families flee states amid restrictions on gender-affirming health care

By Bram Sable-Smith, Daniel Chang, Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez and Sandy West/KFF Health News

An old scale used for calculating body weight.
Health

New medical policy finally address the limitations and flaws of BMI

By Laura Baisas

Stressed doctor with fluorography
Health

Primary care doctors are fed up and burnt out

By Lauren Sausser/KFF Health News

Why scientists have a hard time getting money to study the root causes of outbreaks
Health

Why scientists have a hard time getting money to study the root causes of outbreaks

By Caroline Chen / ProPublica

Honeybee with medical sensor attached to back
Technology

This bee’s tiny backpack could one day monitor human hearts

By Andrew Paul

Meningococcal bacteria under a microscope. According to the World Health Organization, meningitis caused an estimated 25,000 deaths in 2019.
Health

Meningitis shot that fights 5 different strains shows promise in latest trial

By Laura Baisas

A person wearing running shorts holding their thigh on a beach, potentially wondering what happens when you pull a muscle, because they probably just did.
Science

Here’s what really happens when you pull a muscle

By Nicole Wetsman

Asian person with mid-length gray hair rubbing temples because of chronic pain
Health

Doctors recorded brainwaves to finally ‘see’ their patients’ chronic pain

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

Two doctors performing lab tests, one looking into a microscope and the other using a pipette.
Health

A once-forgotten antibiotic could be a new weapon against drug-resistant infections

By Laura Baisas

AI isn’t ready to act as a doctors’ assistant
Health

AI isn’t ready to act as a doctors’ assistant

By Darius Tahir / KFF Health News

Box of iHealth COVID rapid tests being distributed at a school before the US COVID public health emergency ended
Health

Your guide to COVID testing for the unforeseeable future

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

This soft robotic skull implant could change epilepsy treatment
Technology

This soft robotic skull implant could change epilepsy treatment

By Sara Kiley Watson

A diverse crowd of people.
Science

What is a pangenome? Scientists just released their first draft.

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

An older woman sits on a hospital bed.
Health

FDA approves first RSV vaccine for adults after 60 years in the making

By Laura Baisas

CDC zombie preparedness guide comic panel from 2011
Health

That time the CDC got people hyped for a zombie apocalypse

By Matt Hongoltz-Hetling

Close-up of patient's neck with a wearable ultrasound patch
Technology

A tiny patch can take images of muscles and cells underneath your skin

By Andrew Paul

Fluorescent dye shown crossing the blood-brain barrier into the brain via sound waves.
Health

Scientists have developed a new way to fight a nearly untreatable brain cancer

By Laura Baisas

How to understand your prescription’s fine print
Health

How to understand your prescription’s fine print

By Brad Reisfeld/The Conversation

Black truck with purple screen that says "pharmacists know mifepristone saves lives" driving around Phoenix during abortion pill lawsuits
Health

Banning the abortion pill would harm veterans, cancer patients, and many others

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

Side by side of Australian thorny devil lizard and ingestible medical capsule
Technology

A cutting-edge appetite stimulator was inspired by the thorny devil lizard

By Andrew Paul

Do children really need root canals?
Health

Do children really need root canals?

By Christina Szalinski/Undark

A lab technician in a glove swabs a circular petri dish.
Health

FDA approves first fecal transplant pill

By Laura Baisas

A woman just waking up in bed turns off an analog alarm clock.
Health

That melatonin gummy might be stronger than you need

By Laura Baisas

Ozempic injectable diabetes drug, which causes weight loss
Health

6 Ozempic facts that make sense of social media hype

By Harini Bhat

New therapies offer hope for patients with rare genetic conditions
Health

New therapies offer hope for patients with rare genetic conditions

By Elie Dolgin/Knowable Magazine

Dermatologist checking moles on skin cancer patient's back
Health

5 skin cancer-care tools you should look out for

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

New Zealand’s wild pigs could be a source of much-needed donor organs
Environment

New Zealand’s wild pigs could be a source of much-needed donor organs

By Bill Morris/Undark

The court ruling banning the abortion pill is based on bogus science
Health

The court ruling banning the abortion pill is based on bogus science

By Jamie Rowen and Tami S. Rowen/The Conversation

Gloved hand holding up edible battery above its ingredients on table
Technology

This rechargeable battery is meant to be eaten

By Andrew Paul

Oxford malaria vaccine application kit
Health

Ghana is the first country to approve Oxford’s malaria vaccine

By Jamie Dickman

Most residencies happen near city hospitals—which can be a problem for rural patients
Health

Most residencies happen near city hospitals—which can be a problem for rural patients

By Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez/KFF Health News

A masked lab worker uses a pipette and a test tube.
Health

White House invests $5 billion in new COVID vaccines and treatments as national emergency ends

By Laura Baisas

A doctor examines a child's throat with a tongue depresser.
Health

Kids all over the US are getting strep, but antibiotics are hard to come by

By Laura Baisas

A woman holds an ultrasound photo of a baby.
Health

Nearly 18 percent of the global population struggles with infertility

By Laura Baisas

Red and pink pill on yellow background with Swiss army knife coming out of it to symbolize off-label use of medications. Illustrated.
Health

Viagra and the abortion pill can treat multiple illnesses. But how?

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

A medical professional holds a nasal spray version of naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal drug.
Health

FDA approves first over-the-counter opioid overdose treatment

By Laura Baisas

Three vials of COVID-19 vaccine in front of the World Health Organization's logo.
Health

Healthy adults don’t need to keep getting COVID-19 boosters, says WHO

By Laura Baisas

ADHD patients face wildly different drug testing requirements
Health

ADHD patients face wildly different drug testing requirements

By Arielle Zionts/KHN

Two surgeons operating in an operating room.
Health

The White House has a plan to overhaul the organ transplant network

By Laura Baisas

A pile of pills of various shapes and colors on an orange background. Some of these may be allergy medications.
Health

The right way to use seasonal allergy medications

By Kate Baggaley

A curled lock of composer Ludwig van Beethoven's hair with an inscription from the hair's former owner, Ignaz Moscheles.
Science

We now have a full composition of Beethoven’s DNA

By Laura Baisas

A woman holes a pack of birth control pills in one hand, with a single pill in the other.
Health

What we know about hormonal birth control and breast cancer risk

By Laura Baisas

Candida auris in a petri dish taken in a laboratory of Wuerzburg University in Wuerzburg, Germany, January 23, 2018.
Health

A drug-resistant fungus is spreading in US hospitals—here’s what you need to know

By Laura Baisas

A winning picture of mutated pollen grains, colorized, from the Koch Institute Image Awards.
Science

Under a microscope, mouse colons and mutant pollen become art

By Popular Science Team

A good night’s sleep could help vaccines work better
Health

A good night’s sleep could help vaccines work better

By Sara Kiley Watson

Woman sitting on bed holding lower back in pain
Technology

Medical startup put useless plastic implants in chronic pain patients, says FBI

By Andrew Paul

A printout cholesterol screening results.
Health

Safer statin alternative could be a better way to lower ‘bad’ cholesterol levels

By Laura Baisas

In this 2017 photo, a narcotic detection dog alerts a U.S. Customs officer to a package containing a narcotic at the international mail facility in Chicago.
Health

Generic Viagra—not fentanyl—is most likely to be found in illicit drug shipments to the US

By Phil Galewitz / KHN

Poppy seeds can skew drug test results, but they won’t actually intoxicate you
Health

Poppy seeds can skew drug test results, but they won’t actually intoxicate you

By Gary Reisfield / The Conversation

Medtronic's headquarters.
Health

A little-known form of medical pollution is costing Puerto Ricans their health

By Zayna Syed

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