Medical Treatments

39 Stories

Medical Treatments

Talking with the first person to receive a new kind of pig kidney transplant

NPR visits first person to get a new kind of genetically modified pig kidney two weeks after undergoing the historic procedure.
Rob Stein
Medical Treatments

Consultations for obesity drug prescriptions are way up over 2023, survey finds

Appointments with health professionals for obesity drug consultations are way up, according to data from Zocdoc, a provider of scheduling services.
Sydney Lupkin
Medical Treatments

Customized CRISPR treatments could help people with rare genetic disorders

The gene-editing technique known as CRISPR is promising to revolutionize medicine. Some researchers are trying to help make it available for people with very rare genetic disorders.
Rob Stein
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.

1 of 4