Even though the sisters hope a successful drug treatment for their family's form of dementia will emerge, they're now planning for a future without one. "There's a kind of sorrow about Alzheimer's disease that, as strange as it seems, there's a comfort in being in the presence of people who understand it," Ward says. Juan Diego Reyes for NPR hide caption
A single-use syringe awaits to be filled with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. Moderna has sued rival drugmakers for patent infringement. Rogelio V. Solis/AP hide caption
Kyle Planck, who has recovered from a painful case of monkeypox, has joined advocacy groups and pleaded with elected officials to make the antiviral pills TPOXX more available. Yuki Iwamura/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
In states that outlaw abortion, some patients and health care workers worry that in vitro fertilization could be in legal jeopardy too. Sebastian Kaulitzki/Getty Images/Science Photo Library hide caption
A pulse oximeter is worn by Brown University professor Kimani Toussaint. The devices have been shown in research to produce inaccurate results in dark-skinned people, and Toussaint's lab is developing technology that would be more accurate, regardless of skin tone. Craig LeMoult hide caption
Some medical tests, such as MRIs done early for uncomplicated low back pain and routine vitamin D tests "just to be thorough," are considered "low-value care" and can lead to further testing that can cost patients thousands of dollars. ER Productions Limited/Getty Images hide caption
Researcher Lee Fisher (left) is working to merge prosthetic limbs with the nervous system. Pat Bayne (right) says a prototype has partially restored her sense of touch: "I know there's no hand there, but I can feel it." T. Betler/UPMC/Pitt Health Sciences hide caption
Dr. Stephaun Wallace, who leads the global external relations strategies for the COVID-19 Prevention Network at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, receives his second injection from Dr. Tia Babu during the Novavax vaccine phase 3 clinical trial in February 2021. Karen Ducey/Getty Images hide caption
Syringes filled with the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine were prepared for use at a vaccination center in Berlin, Germany, in February. Soon the vaccine could become available in the U.S. Carsten Koall/Getty Images hide caption
Fentanyl took root in Montana and in communities across the Mountain West region during the pandemic, and overall drug overdose deaths are disproportionately affecting Native Americans. Tony Bynum for KHN hide caption
Preventive care should be free to patients under the Affordable Care Act, but Elizabeth Melville of Sunapee, NH., was charged $2,185 for a colonoscopy in 2021. Philip Keith/KHN hide caption
Nancy Rose, right, who contracted COVID-19 in 2021 and continues to exhibit long-haul symptoms including brain fog and fatigue, cooks for her mother, Amy Russell, left, at their home, Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022, in Port Jefferson, N.Y. Researchers are trying to understand what causes these long COVID symptoms. John Minchillo/AP hide caption
First grader Rihanna Chihuaque, 7, receives a COVID-19 vaccine at Arturo Velasquez Institute in Chicago last November. Scott Olson/Getty Images hide caption
TK thomas hansmann.fotograf/Pfizer hide caption
An attendee holds her child during A Texas Rally for Abortion Rights at Discovery Green in Houston, Texas, on May 7. Recently passed laws make abortion illegal after about six weeks into a pregnancy. Mark Felix/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
People 60 years and older should not start taking daily aspirin to prevent heart attacks and strokes. Those currently taking it, can consult their doctors about whether to continue. Emma H. Tobin/AP hide caption
A health care worker prepares the current COVID vaccine booster shots from Moderna in February. The company says a bivalent vaccine that combines the original strain with the omicron strain is the lead candidate for a fall vaccination campaign. Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption
Oxycodone pills Mark Lennihan/AP hide caption
James Perkinson of Greenbrier, Tenn., underwent ECMO for nearly two months while he was sedated. He says without the "miracle" therapy, he "wouldn't be here right now." Kacie Perkinson hide caption
Treatments like monoclonal antibody infusions and antiviral pills can prevent a case of COVID-19 from becoming life-threatening. But many of the available drugs are not being used. Emily Elconin/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption
A passer-by walks past a sign that calls attention to COVID-19 testing while departing a Walgreens pharmacy, Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021, in New Bedford, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) Steven Senne/AP hide caption
Margarette Osias, 28, poses for a portrait in her office in Laurel, Delaware on February 22, 2022. Osias is a bilingual outreach navigator and medical interpreter at Tabitha Medical Care wherein they provide free universal cancer screening and treatment in accordance with newly passed legislation in the state of Delaware. Rosem Morton for NPR hide caption