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News Articles: Medical Treatments

Medical Minute

Medical Minute: Neuropsychiatric Symptoms

This week’s Medical Minute,  discusses growing evidence that chronic neuropsychiatric symptoms follow COVID-19 infection.

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Vials of the reformulated Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 booster move through production at a plant in Kalamazoo, Mich.

CDC recommends new booster shots to fight omicron

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky has signed off on updated versions of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines that target the original virus and the omicron subvariants.

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By:
  • Jane Greenhalgh and
  • Rob Stein
Vials of the newly reformulated COVID-19 vaccine booster are being readied by Pfizer for distribution now that the Food and Drug Administration has authorized the shots for people 12 and older.

FDA authorizes first revamp of COVID vaccines to target omicron

The new shots from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech target both the original strain of the coronavirus and the omicron BA.4/BA.5 subvariants that most people are catching now.

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By:
  • Scott Hensley and
  • Rob Stein
Medical Minute

Medical Minute: Amino Acids

This week’s Medical Minute, discusses why some amino acids might be a logical new treatment target for stroke and traumatic brain injury.

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This computer-generated image shows the formation of a zygote after fertilization. Some Republican-led states, including Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, and Oklahoma, have passed laws declaring that life begins at fertilization, a contention that opens the door to a host of pregnancy-related litigation.

When does life begin? As state laws define it, science, politics and religion clash

For decades, the U.S. medical system has adhered to a legally recognized standard for death, one embraced by most states. Why is a uniform standard for the start of human life proving so elusive?

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By:
  • Sarah Varney
Physician Assistant Susan Eng-Na, right, administers a monkeypox vaccine during a vaccination clinic in New York. New cases are starting to decline in New York and some other U.S. cities.

Early signs suggest monkeypox may be slowing in the U.S.

Rates of new cases are declining in major cities, suggesting public health campaigns are working.

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By:
  • Will Stone and
  • Pien Huang
A single-use syringe awaits to be filled with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. Moderna has sued rival drugmakers for patent infringement.

Moderna sues Pfizer over COVID-19 vaccine patents

The vaccine maker alleges that its rivals Pfizer and BioNTech used some patented features of its mRNA technology to develop their COVID vaccines.

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By:
  • Carmel Wroth and
  • Joe Palca
This carefully-worded and designed infographic from Rockland County, NY describes — in English, Spanish, Haitian Creole, and Yiddish — what polio is and that immunization is the best way to protect yourself and others.

New York counties gear up to fight a polio outbreak among the unvaccinated

Polio is spreading in a few New York counties with low vaccination rates. Experts warn that other places in the U.S. could face the same challenge.

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By:
  • Ari Daniel
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, listens as then-President Donald Trump answers questions in the press briefing room with members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force.

Fauci to step down in December after decades of public service

Dr. Anthony Fauci helped guide the U.S. through the COVID crisis, and earlier in his career played a key role in the response to AIDS. He has served under seven presidents.

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By:
  • Richard Harris and
  • Carmel Wroth
The new booster shot would be an update to Pfizer's current version of the shot, which was designed for the original strain of the coronavirus.

Pfizer asks FDA to greenlight new omicron booster shots, which could arrive this fall

Pfizer has submitted data on its bivalent COVID-19 booster shot that specifically targets the latest omicron subvariants. If authorized, the company says the shots could be ready as soon as September.

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By:
  • Pien Huang and
  • Will Stone
Medical Minute

Medical Minute: Alzheimer's Microvascular Disease

This week’s Medical Minute, discusses the role of microvascular disease in the progression of Alzheimer’s.

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The federal government wants to roll out another round of COVID-19 boosters this fall but drugmakers are still testing the new boosters. The Food and Drug Administration has said it will base its evaluation of the boosters on data from mouse studies, in a controversial move.

What's behind the FDA's controversial strategy for evaluating new COVID boosters

Some scientists are alarmed that the agency plans to evaluate the next generation of boosters by reviewing mouse studies alone. Others say there's no time to waste waiting for human trials.

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By:
  • Rob Stein
Rural communities with struggling hospitals often turn to outside investors willing to take over their health care centers. Some are willing to sell the hospitals for next to nothing to companies that promise to keep them running.

Buy a rural hospital for $100? Investors pick up struggling institutions for pennies

Some rural hospitals are in such bad shape, they're selling for next to nothing. One company is snapping several distressed or closed hospitals in rural Tennessee, hoping to turn a profit.

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By:
  • Blake Farmer
Medical Minute

Medical Minute: Cancer Costs

This week’s Medical Minute, discusses the mental and physical health challenges that linger with cancer survivors.

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  • GPB Newsroom
Abortion-rights advocates are using social media to reach young people who have more questions than ever about how to get an abortion.

Long uncertain, young people's access to abortion is more complicated than ever

As more states restrict abortion, the obstacles for minors who need the procedure are growing. Abortion-rights advocates warn the legal upheaval is leaving young people confused and without options.

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By:
  • Megan Burbank