People walk past the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, in Nashville, Tenn., on Monday, where victims were taken after a shooting at the Covenant School. John Amis/AP hide caption
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Shots
Health News From NPR
A homeless encampment along a street in Skid Row on Dec. 14, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Two days earlier, LA Mayor Karen Bass declared a state of emergency regarding homelessness in the city, where an estimated 40,000 residents are unhoused. Mario Tama/Getty Images hide caption
When homelessness and mental illness overlap, is forced treatment compassionate?
Marianne Sinisi, of Altoona, Pennsylvania, lost her 26-year-old son, Shawn, to an opioid overdose in 2018. She wants the opioid settlement dollars to be spent in ways that help spare other parents similar grief. Nancy Andrews/KHN hide caption
Shana Alesi administers a COVID-19 booster vaccine to Marine Corps veteran Bill Fatz at the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital in Hines, Ill., in 2021. A new round of boosters could become available for some people this spring. Scott Olson/Getty Images hide caption
The FDA may soon authorize a spring round of COVID-19 boosters for some people
Public health professor Arline Geronimus says marginalized people suffer nearly constant stress, which leads to increasingly serious health problems over time. Jon Cherry/Getty Images hide caption
How poverty and racism 'weather' the body, accelerating aging and disease
Kennise Nevers holds her son, AJ, in her arms at home. Nevers' mother, Nancy Josey, looks on. Jesse Costa/WBUR hide caption
A billing mistake by an in-network Florida emergency room landed Sara McLin's then-4-year-old son in collections. Zack Wittman/KHN hide caption
Volunteer pilots fly patients to get abortions and gender-affirming medical care from states with bans to nearby states where the services are available. Rose Conlon/Kansas News Service hide caption
Volunteer pilots fly patients seeking abortions to states where it's legal
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Dr. Leah Rethy is an internal medicine resident with Penn Medicine. Kimberly Paynter/WHYY hide caption
Scientists say they have sequenced the genome of composer Ludwig van Beethoven. INA FASSBENDER/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Scientists sequence Beethoven's genome for clues into his painful past
Mora Leeb places some pieces into a puzzle during a local puzzle tournament. The 15-year-old has grown up without the left side of her brain after it was removed when she was very young. Seth Leeb hide caption
Meet the 'glass-half-full girl' whose brain rewired after losing a hemisphere
GOOD Meat cultivated chicken fillet cooked in a pot, with asparagus and mushrooms. The dish was created without killing a bird. Brian L. Frank for NPR/Brian L. Frank for NPR hide caption
An unhoused individual sleeps under an American flag blanket in New York City on Sept. 10, 2013. In 2021, approximately 11% of Americans lived below the federal poverty line. Spencer Platt/Getty Images hide caption
Private opulence, public squalor: How the U.S. helps the rich and hurts the poor
Samuel Camacho, a health insurance navigator with the Universal Health Care Action Network of Ohio, assists people in enrolling for or renewing Medicaid. Maddie McGarvey for NPR hide caption
Medicaid renewals are starting. Those who don't reenroll could get kicked off
Colorectal cancer is rising in young people. A growing body of evidence suggests diet and lifestyle play a role in the uptick. Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Fight Colorecta hide caption
Colorectal cancer is rising among Gen X, Y & Z. Here are 5 ways to protect yourself
Clinics in rural areas with fewer doctors, dentists and nurses are turning to mobile health care clinics to take care to where it's most needed. The Healthy Communities Coalition organizes a few mobile dental events each year in Lyon County, Nev. Wendy Madson/KHN hide caption
In London to address a gene-editing summit last week, Victoria Gray took a break to visit Sir John Soane's Museum. In 2019, Gray became the first patient to be treated for sickle cell disease using CRISPR, an experimental gene-editing technique. She was invited to talk about her experiences at the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing. Orlando Gili for NPR hide caption
Sickle cell patient's success with gene editing raises hopes and questions
Wanda Irving holds her granddaughter, Soleil, in front of a portrait of Soleil's mother, Shalon Irving, at her home in Sandy Springs, Ga., in 2017. Wanda is raising Soleil since Shalon died of complications due to hypertension a few weeks after giving birth. Becky Harlan/NPR hide caption
Paramedics at Ben Taub General Hospital speed a patient with a gunshot wound to the trauma team for further care. Ben Taub is the largest safety-net hospital in Houston. Gregory Smith/Corbis via Getty Images hide caption
This safety-net hospital doctor treats mostly uninsured and undocumented patients
Physicians say roughly half of all preterm births are preventable, caused by social, economic and environmental factors, as well as inadequate access to prenatal health care. ER Productions Limited/Getty Images hide caption
Prescription drug coverage is just one part of Medicare, the federal government's health insurance program for people age 65 and over. d3sign/Getty Images hide caption