• Medical Treatments

  Surgeries are being canceled after Helene shut down a factory that makes IV fluids

  When Hurricane Helene took out a factory making 60% of the country's IV fluids, it caused shortages that have led to canceled surgeries. A look at the effects and prospects for improvement.

  • Sydney Lupkin
• 

  Environment

  UW biochemist wins Nobel Prize for using computers to design proteins

  A biochemist at the University of Washington School of Medicine has won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his groundbreaking work in computational protein design.

  • Ann Dornfeld

• Medical Treatments

  For the first time in decades, the FDA has approved a new type of schizophrenia drug

  The FDA has approved KarXT, the first new type of drug for schizophrenia in decades. It appears to be effective, but its main advantage over current treatments is milder side effects.

  • Sydney Lupkin

• Medical Treatments

  Very few people are getting the latest COVID-19 vaccines

  So far, very few people have been rolling up their sleeves to get the latest COVID-19 vaccines according to the first data from the CDC tracking demand for the new shots.

  • Rob Stein

• Medical Treatments

  Novo Nordisk CEO is grilled by a Senators about high cost of Ozempic

  Sen. Bernie Sanders questions Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Jorgensen in a hearing on Capitol Hill about the high prices Americans pay for Ozempic and Wegovy compared with people in other countries.

  • Sydney Lupkin

• Medical Treatments

  The FTC has filed a lawsuit over the artificially inflation of the price of insulin

  The Federal Trade Commission alleges that pharmacy benefits managers prioritized high rebates from drug makers for insulin over lower prices for consumers, leading to inflated out-of-pocket costs.

  • Sydney Lupkin
• 

  Health

  Measles cases are up and childhood vaccinations are down

  For about three weeks in 2000, there were zero measles cases in the United States. It was declared eradicated.Fast forward to 2024, and measles cases are surging, especially in Oregon where the state is facing the worst outbreak since the early 1990s.This is happening as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the vaccination rate among kindergartners is dropping, and more and more parents are seeking exemptions to school vaccine requirements.People are vaccinating their children at lower and lower rates. What does that mean for kids as they head back to school, and for infectious and deadly diseases like measles? For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

• Health

  A drug that restores brain metabolism could help treat Alzheimer's

  A drug that restores brain metabolism in mouse models of Alzheimer's also improved cognitive function. The discovery could help researchers find additional pathways to combating the symptoms of this brain disease, beyond the telltale amyloid plaques and tau tangles that are hallmarks of Alzheimer's.

  • Jon Hamilton

• Health

  Medicare negotiated lower prices on several drugs. What does that mean for patients?

  For six of the 10 drugs that Medicare negotiated to lower prices, the net prices aren't any better than the ones insurers already get. But there may be a change in patients' choices of medicines.

  • Sydney Lupkin
• 

  Health

  FDA gives thumbs down to MDMA for now, demanding further research

  The much-anticipated decision has rattled supporters of psychedelic therapies. The drugmaker says it will ask the agency to reconsider.

  • Will Stone

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