Health Inc. : Shots - Health News As spending on care rises, the business of health keeps getting more important. We feature news on and analysis of drugmakers, health insurers, hospitals, doctors and others in the business of providing health care.
Shots - Health News

Shots

Health News From NPR

Health Inc.

Angels for Change founder Laura Bray took on the problem of drug shortages when the hospital ran out of the drug that her then-9-year-old daughter needed to treat her leukemia. Laura Bray hide caption

toggle caption
Laura Bray

The hospital ran out of her child's cancer drug. Now she's fighting to end shortages

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1204856094/1208066817" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Open enrollment for Medicare begins Sunday and ads like this billboard inside California's John Wayne Airport are popping up. Marketing of Medicare plans is subject to new, stricter federal regulations this year. Leslie Walker/Tradeoffs hide caption

toggle caption
Leslie Walker/Tradeoffs

Rosalind Pichardo, who founded Operation Save Our City in Philadelphia, sprays a container of Narcan during a demonstration Sept. 8 at the Health and Human Services Humphrey Building in Washington, DC. Health officials held the event to mark the availability, without a prescription, of the opioid overdose-reversal drug. AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein hide caption

toggle caption
AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

An overdose drug is finally over-the-counter. Is that enough to stop the death toll?

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1199371609/1201683149" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Kayce Atencio, who had a heart attack when he was 19, was unable to rent an apartment for years because of bad credit attributed in part to thousands of dollars of medical debt. "It always felt like I just couldn't get a leg up," says Atencio, one of millions of Americans whose access to housing is threatened by medical debt. Rachel Woolf for KFF Health News hide caption

toggle caption
Rachel Woolf for KFF Health News

An analysis of court records by the state treasurer and Duke researchers finds Atrium Health in Charlotte, N.C., accounted for almost a third of the legal actions against North Carolina patients over roughly five years. Logan Cyrus for KHN hide caption

toggle caption
Logan Cyrus for KHN

Dr. Alex Shteynshlyuger spends hours on the phone with payment processors like Zelis, fighting their attempts to impose fees on electronic payments. DeSean McClinton-Holland/Pro Publica hide caption

toggle caption
DeSean McClinton-Holland/Pro Publica

An aerial view shows damage to a Pfizer pharmaceutical factory in Rocky Mount, N.C., from a tornado that struck on July 19. The plant produces many drugs used in hospitals. Sean Rayford/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Sean Rayford/Getty Images

Tornado damage to Pfizer factory highlights vulnerabilities of drug supply

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1190507719/1190534472" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Doctors are starting to face a flood of message from patients and some health care companies are billing for clinical advice delivered this way. jose carlos cerdeno martinez/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
jose carlos cerdeno martinez/Getty Images

'Hi, Doc!' DM'ing the doctor could cost you (or your insurance plan)

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1188739567/1189186807" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

AbbVie's Humira was the world's best-selling drug for many years. Now it faces competition for copycats that cost a fraction of its price. David J. Phillip/AP hide caption

toggle caption
David J. Phillip/AP

Blockbuster drug Humira finally faces lower-cost rivals

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1188745297/1188780602" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Pharmacy benefit managers are middlemen who work with drug companies and insurers, helping set the retail prices for prescription drugs Americans rely on for their health. They're now the subject of a number of new bills in Congress. Robert F. Bukaty/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Robert F. Bukaty/AP

Cultivated Meat is an alternative to traditional meat derived from cells in a lab. In this photo, a chicken breast is prepared at Upside Foods. Brian L. Frank for NPR/Brian L. Frank for NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Brian L. Frank for NPR/Brian L. Frank for NPR

'No kill' meat, grown from animal cells, is now approved for sale in the U.S.

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1183484892/1183578307" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tessa was a chatbot originally designed by researchers to help prevent eating disorders. The National Eating Disorders Association had hoped Tessa would be a resource for those seeking information, but the chatbot was taken down when artificial intelligence-related capabilities, added later on, caused the chatbot to provide weight loss advice. Screengrab hide caption

toggle caption
Screengrab

Osteopathic physician Kevin de Regnier of Winterset, Iowa, checks Chris Bourne, who came in for an adjustment of his anxiety medication on May 9, 2023. Tony Leys/KFF Health News hide caption

toggle caption
Tony Leys/KFF Health News

Matt Ashley, a senior technologist at Johnson Memorial Health in Franklin, Indiana, is part of a small IT team that spent months helping the hospital recover after a crippling cyberattack in 2021. Farah Yousry/WFYI hide caption

toggle caption
Farah Yousry/WFYI

Doctors' offices often offer special medical credit cards as a solution to paying off large medical bills. But patients may end up paying far more for their bills when they have to pay interest down the road. Fly View Productions/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Fly View Productions/Getty Images

Since the pandemic, some hospitals have started offering to let patients with acute illness recuperate at-home, with 24-hour remote access to medical professionals and daily home visits. FG Trade/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
FG Trade/Getty Images

Post-pandemic, even hospital care goes remote

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1167392633/1173906533" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Students at the University of Minnesota celebrate their induction into medical school. The U.S. has disproportionately few Black and Hispanic doctors. Some of the barriers to entering the profession start before even getting into medical school, recent research finds, including financial pressures and racism. Anthony Souffle/Star Tribune via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Anthony Souffle/Star Tribune via Getty Images

Diversity in medicine can save lives. Here's why there aren't more doctors of color

  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1170959967/1170969774" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Keith Negley for NPR

Teen with life-threatening depression finally found hope. Then insurance cut her off

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1164782264/1169987777" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript