Bioethics.net

August 8, 2018 9:00 am

These tiny, stretchy speakers and microphones let your skin play music (Science)

If you’re prone to forgetting your headphones, new wearable technology that could turn your skin into a speaker should be music to your ears. Created in part to help the hearing and speech impaired, the new “smart skin” could be embedded into the ears—or into a patch on the throat. A similar device, described in the same study, acts as a microphone, which can be connected to smartphones and computers to unlock voice-activated security systems.

July 2, 2018 7:41 am

Federal Judge Blocks Medicaid Work Requirements In Kentucky (NPR)

A federal judge has blocked work requirements for Medicaid patients in Kentucky, just days before new rules mandated by Gov. Matt Bevin’s administration were set to go into effect.

June 21, 2018 8:55 am

A Pediatrician Reports Back From A Visit To A Children's Shelter Near The Border (NPR)

Nearly 2,000 immigrant children were separated from their parents after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border unlawfully this spring, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Many pediatricians have expressed concerns about the effects this traumatic event could have on those children. Dr. Colleen Kraft, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, visited a shelter in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley where some of these children are held. She spoke with All Things Considered’s Audie Cornish about that visit on Monday. She said she’s concerned that the stress the children are going through will have long-term health effects.

June 7, 2018 9:00 am

What Explains The Rising Overdose Rate Among Latinos? (NPR)

Opioid overdose deaths among Latinos are surging nationwide as well. While the overall death toll is still higher for whites, it’s increasing faster for Latinos and blacks, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Latino fatalities increased 52.5 percent between 2014 and 2016 as compared to 45.8 percent for whites. (Statisticians say counts for Hispanics are typically underestimated by 3 to 5 percent.) The most substantial hike was among blacks — 83.9 percent.

June 6, 2018 9:00 am

To be herself, she needs to change her body. But first, comes the battle with insurers (CNN)

The Trump administration has signaled its intention in recent months to rewrite a federal rule that bars health care discrimination based on gender identity. In its current form, that rule is one of the precious few tools transgender patients have to fight insurance denials for various medical treatments and procedures that fall under the broad umbrella of gender-affirming or transition-related care. Even with the rule in place, Jasmine and four other patients in different states detailed protracted battles for coverage.

May 14, 2018 9:00 am

Fewer African-Americans admitted to ICU for heart failure receive cardiologist care (Reuters)

African-Americans have a higher risk of heart failure and are more likely to die from heart failure than other races, but they are less likely to receive advanced therapies for heart failure.

October 18, 2017 9:00 am

Polluted environments kill 1.7 million children each year, WHO says (CNN)

Each year, environmental pollutants cost an estimated 1.7 million lives among children under 5, according to World Health Organization reports released Monday.

October 13, 2017 9:00 am

Navajo Nation reconsiders ban on genetic research (Nature)

When the Navajo Nation opens its first oncology centre next year in Tuba City, Arizona, clinicians there may be able to offer a service that has been banned on tribal lands for 15 years: analyzing the DNA of Navajo tribe members to guide treatments and study the genetic roots of disease.

September 5, 2017 9:00 am

F.D.A. Approves First Gene-Altering Leukemia Treatment, Costing $475,000 (The New York Times)

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved the first-ever treatment that genetically alters a patient’s own cells to fight cancer, a milestone that is expected to transform treatment in the coming years.

August 29, 2017 9:00 am

Hunting a Killer: Sex, Drugs and the Return of Syphilis (The New York Times)

OKLAHOMA CITY — For months, health officials in this socially conservative state capital have been staggered by a fast-spreading outbreak of a disease that, for nearly two decades, was considered all but extinguished.

Syphilis, the deadly sexually transmitted infection that can lead to blindness, paralysis and dementia, is returning here and around the country, another consequence of the heroin and methamphetamine epidemics, as users trade sex for drugs.