More Americans Can't Afford Health Care, Prescriptions

The inability to pay for health care has reached a new high in the United States, a new study says.

More than one-third of Americans — an estimated 91 million people — say they couldn't afford to access quality health care if they needed it today, according to the latest West Health-Gallup Healthcare Affordability Index.

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Drug Overdose Deaths Rising Faster in Black Americans, Study Finds

Black Americans have been dying from drug overdoses (OD) at higher rates than white Americans, a new study says.

Both Black men and women are at greater risk of a fatal OD compared to white people, researchers reported April 1 in JAMA Network Open.

The OD death rate for Black men surpassed the rate for white men in 2016, and...

Experts Concerned as NIH Axes Critical Vaccine Study Funds

Hundreds of U.S. research projects aimed at boosting vaccine confidence have been shut down -- just as preventable diseases like measles and flu are on the rise.

Since Jan. 20, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has canceled more than 1,600 research grants. 

Around 300 of those were for vaccine-related projec...

Brain Implant Lets Woman Talk After 18 Years of Silence Due to Stroke

For nearly two decades, a stroke had left a woman unable to speak -- until now. 

Thanks to a new brain implant, her thoughts are being turned into real-time speech, giving her a voice again for the first time in 18 years.

The device was tested on a 47-year-old woman with quadriplegia who lost her ability to speak after a stroke....

Major Job Cuts at NIOSH Pose Risks to Worker Safety, Critics Warn

A major round of job cuts at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) could weaken efforts to protect American workers, according to federal health officials.

About two-thirds of NIOSH staff -- roughly 875 people -- may lose their jobs as part of a larger restructuring ordered by U.S. Department of Health and Human...

Microplastics Linked To High Blood Pressure, Diabetes, Stroke

Microplastics appear to be contributing to chronic diseases in shoreline areas of the United States, a new study suggests.

High blood pressure, diabetes and stroke rates are higher in coastal or lakefront areas with greater concentrations of microplastics in the environment, researchers reported at a meeting of the American College of Card...