More gay and bisexual men are now eligible to donate blood. Health reporter Rachel Sun explains that’s thanks to updated screening questions that are used for all patients, regardless of sexuality. Read More
Blake Foraker grills gene-edited German-style sausages at Washington State University. Credit: Connor Henricksen Listen (Runtime 3:58) Read At a barbecue on campus last week, flames licked a set of sausage […]Read More
The FDA has approved a 2nd COVID booster shot for people 50 and older CREDIT: Grant Hindsley/AFP via Getty Images Listen NWPB’s Rachel Sun talks to experts about the FDA […]Read More
The Food and Drug Administration released briefing documents Tuesday on booster shots for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines ahead of a two-day public meeting of advisers to the agency that starts Thursday.Read More
According to Novavax, the vaccine's manufacturer, it had a 100% efficacy against the original strain of the coronavirus and 93% efficacy against more worrisome variants that have subsequently appeared.Read More
The Food and Drug Administration says it's now OK to store the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at normal refrigerator temperatures for up to a month. This is much longer than was previously allowed under the FDA's emergency authorization and will make storage and distribution of the vaccine easier.Read More
The Food and Drug Administration said Monday that children 12 to 15 years old are now eligible to receive a key COVID-19 vaccine as the agency expanded its emergency use authorization for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.Read More
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it is moving to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars, based on the evidence of the addictiveness and harm of the products.Read More
The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday after the panel voted that the vaccine is safe and effective at preventing COVID-19, and its benefits outweigh the known risks.Read More
Peeling paint. Cracked buckets. Employees dragging unsealed bags of medical waste. Procedures ignored. Inadequately trained staff. All of these were problems noted by U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspectors at the Emergent BioSolutions factory in Baltimore – a facility that is intended to produce materials for the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.Read More
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the blood clots are extremely rare but that it is reviewing the cases. The agency says it expects this pause to last for "a matter of days."Read More
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday they are recommending a "pause" in the use of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine out of an "abundance of caution" while a review of reports of rare, potentially dangerous blood clots is conducted.Read More
Experts believe that the availability of at-home coronavirus tests could help slow the continued spread of the virus, which is contagious even when people are asymptomatic. Abbott's test will be available on grocery and drugstore shelves in the "coming weeks," according to a press release from the company. Quidel did not include a timeline in its release.Read More
A third COVID-19 vaccine is on the way, and this one requires only one shot for immunization. The Food and Drug Administration authorized Johnson & Johnson's vaccine for emergency use Saturday, a day after a panel of advisers to the agency voted unanimously (22-0) in its favor.Read More
Monoclonal antibody drugs are supposed to help people with mild to moderate COVID-19 avoid the hospital, but it can be a challenge to find out where the treatment is offered. NPR has heard from people across the country who have been frustrated by this. They include Shirley Wagoner, an 80-year-old who still hits the ski slopes and helps run the family plumbing business in Read More
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning health care workers that any changes to the authorized dosing schedules of COVID-19 vaccines currently being administered significantly place public health at risk and undermine "the historic vaccination effort to protect the population" from the coronavirus pandemic.Read More
The new tests produce results completely at home within 15 minutes. Experts say they could be a 'game-changer' in helping people find out quickly if they need to isolate. Read More
The first doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine should start arriving in Washington on Monday, with the first vaccinations of front line health care workers beginning as early as Tuesday. An upbeat Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced that timeline at a rare Sunday news conference.Read More
Army Gen. Gustave Perna told reporters that distribution of the vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech has begun, with shipment to 636 sites scheduled to begin on Monday. Read More
In a 17-4 vote, an expert committee concluded that the scientific evidence supports the authorization of the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech for emergency use during the pandemic.Read More
In the U.S., front-line health care workers are likely first in line to get immunized with a COVID-19 vaccine, once the FDA says yes. But what about the rest of us? Here's what we know so far.Read More
The Lucira COVID-19 All-In-One Test Kit is expected to provide results in 30 minutes or less. Its approval could help alleviate the strain on the nation's precarious coronavirus testing system.Read More
The vaccine is nearly 95% effective in preventing illness, according to an interim analysis of a clinical test involving 30,000 people.Read More
The federal government plans to distribute 300,000 doses of the drug at no cost, but that doesn't mean treatment will be free. Intravenous infusion charges can run more than $1,000.Read More
Washington is among a handful of Western states that have joined California in a pact to independently review the safety and efficacy of any coronavirus vaccine that is ultimately approved by the FDA before any distribution occurs in those states, Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee announced Tuesday.Read More
Several COVID-19 vaccine candidates are being tested now. But why does it take 30,000 volunteers to know if one is safe and effective? And what does it mean to say a vaccine candidate is working?Read More
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has asked states to prepare to distribute a potential coronavirus vaccine as soon as late October, according to a series of planning documents sent to public health officials last week.Read More
Emily Miller was central in defending the FDA commissioner, Dr. Stephen Hahn, after he falsely said that blood plasma could lower the death rate from COVID-19 by more than a third.Read More
Emergency use authorization makes it easier for doctors to use a drug in a manner not specifically approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA granted these drugs this status in March.Read More
Kratom, an herb that's abundant, legal in most states and potentially dangerous, is the subject of an ongoing debate over its risks and benefits.Read More
The federal government is taking action to pull many flavored products popular with kids off the market. Public health advocates say the move doesn't go far enough.Read More
Anyone under 21 can no longer legally buy cigarettes, cigars or any other tobacco products in the U.S. The new law enacted last week by Congress also applies to electronic cigarettes and vaping products that heat a liquid containing nicotine.Read More
President Trump has signed off on raising the age of sale from 18 to 21 for cigarettes and e-cigarettes. Health advocates worry it guards the industry from further sweeping regulations.Read More
New York officials say tests found high levels of vitamin E in cannabis vaping products used by people who developed lung damage. But it's only one of many possible causes still under investigation.Read More
The Food and Drug Administration has rolled out a proposed rule to require tobacco companies to include graphic warnings, depicting some of the lesser known health risks of smoking tobacco products. Read More
A congressional committee has upheld a prohibition against the Food and Drug Administration considering using gene-edited embryos to establish pregnancies.Read More
Top HIV/AIDS researchers and public health advocates say the Trump administration’s new deal to provide uninsured Americans with free drugs to prevent HIV infection is a promising step in America’s fight against AIDS. But actually reaching the very people most in need of the medication — like men who have sex with men and people who use injection drugs — and convincing Read More
The consumer-advocacy organization Consumer Reports tested 45 fruit juices, including apple, grape and juice blends, and found that 21 of them had "concerning levels" of cadmium, arsenic and/or lead, according to a new report. Juice samples came from 24 national and private-label brands.Read More
People who most intensely oppose genetically modified food think they know a lot about food science, but actually know the least, according to a peer-reviewed paper published in January in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.Read More
The maker of controversial e-cigarettes spent $750,000 on lobbying during the last three months of 2018, a dramatic increase over $210,000 it spent in the second quarter of the year.Read More
In its latest effort to curb smoking by young people, the FDA wants to outlaw menthol cigarettes. The agency would also restrict sales of flavored e-cigarettes to reduce youth addiction to nicotine.Read More
They claim to help you sleep, make your hair grow, speed weight loss, improve your sex life and ward off the nasty cold going around the office. Though it's often impossible to tell if dietary supplements work, consumers generally feel certain they can't hurt. But they can.Read More
The Food and Drug Administration is banning the use of several synthetic flavoring compounds used to infuse flavors such as mint and cinnamon in foods. Environmental groups sued, citing cancer risks.Read More
Marijuana dispensaries are reaching out to seniors seeking help with the aches and pains of aging. They're discovering an array of products and some interesting side effects.Read More
As the nation grapples with a crisis of opioid addiction, a medical device called the Bridge is being touted as a way to help people through the symptoms of withdrawal. Does it work?Read More
The Food and Drug Administration wants to reduce nicotine in cigarettes to levels so low that millions of smokers will be able to quit and millions more people will never take up the habit.Read More
