Families pay thousands of dollars to store their children’s stem cells with the hope of a healthier future. But the cells are rarely useful, and sometimes contaminated.
By Sarah Kliff and
Encouraged on social media, many Americans are estranging themselves from their families as a therapeutic step.
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The Apgar test grades infants in five areas, including skin tone. Babies of color score lower, and may be subjected to unnecessary treatment.
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Millions of parents have paid to bank blood from their infants’ umbilical cords. But storage companies have misled them about the cells’ promise.
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Why Nursing Home Residents Still Suffer Despite Tough State Laws
The Biden administration set stringent new federal staffing rules. But for years, nursing homes have failed to meet the toughest standards set by states.
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How to Find a Good, Well-Staffed Nursing Home
Here are the telltale signs to look for in nursing homes to avoid, and resources that can point to better places.
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In Constant Battle With Insurers, Doctors Reach for a Cudgel: A.I.
As health plans increasingly rely on technology to deny treatment, physicians are fighting back with chatbots that synthesize research and make the case.
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Do You Have Concerns About Embryo Storage? We Want to Hear From You.
We’re reporting on the challenges that fertility clinics face as they store a growing number of frozen embryos.
By Sarah Kliff and
States and Creditors for Purdue Pharma Threaten Sacklers With Gush of Lawsuits
Legal maneuverings followed a Supreme Court ruling last month that denied the Sackler family immunity from liability over its role in the opioid crisis.
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How Science Went to the Dogs (and Cats)
Pets were once dismissed as trivial scientific subjects. Today, companion animal science is hot.
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Their Job Is to Help You Grieve Your Pet
Though still rare, social workers in animal hospitals are growing in their ranks.
By Katie Thomas and
The Pet ‘Superheroes’ Who Donate Their Blood
Transfusions have become an important part of veterinary medicine, but cat and dog blood is not always easy to come by.
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Why You’re Paying Your Veterinarian So Much
People have grown more attached to their pets — and more willing to spend money on them — turning animal medicine into a high-tech industry worth billions.
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Are We Loving Our Pets to Death?
Pet owners are treating their animal charges ever more like humans. But that isn’t good for pets, or for us, many experts argue.
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Your Brain Holds Secrets. Scientists Want to Find Them.
Many Americans plan to donate their organs for transplants or their bodies for medical science. Few realize that there’s a growing need for their brains, too.
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Personal Conflicts, Even Violence, Are Not Uncommon in Long-Term Care
Arguments, verbal abuse and aggression are not unusual in elder care settings. Better staffing and training can ease the tensions, experts say.
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When ‘Prior Authorization’ Becomes a Medical Roadblock
Medicare Advantage plans say it reduces waste and inappropriate care. Critics say it often restricts coverage unnecessarily.
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When Families Fight Over a Relative With Dementia, It’s Time to Call in the Mediator
Trained negotiators can help families struggling with vexing elder-care issues.
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‘Aging in Place, or Stuck in Place?’
Homeownership is not the boon to older Americans that it once was.
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Facing Financial Ruin as Costs Soar for Elder Care
The United States has no coherent system for providing long-term care, leading many who are aging to struggle to stay independent or to rely on a patchwork of solutions.
By Reed Abelson and
Desperate Families Search for Affordable Home Care
Facing a severe shortage of aides and high costs, people trying to keep aging loved ones at home often cobble together a patchwork of family and friends to help.
By Reed Abelson and
Extra Fees Drive Assisted-Living Profits
The add-ons pile up: $93 for medications, $50 for cable TV. Prices soar as the industry leaves no service unbilled. The housing option is out of reach for many families.
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Why Long-Term Care Insurance Falls Short for So Many
The private insurance market has proved wildly inadequate in providing financial security for millions of older Americans, in part by underestimating how many policyholders would use their coverage.
By Jordan Rau and
‘I Wish I Had Known That No One Was Going to Help Me’
Adult children discuss the trials of caring for their aging parents: unreliable agencies, a lack of help and dwindling financial resources.
By Reed Abelson and
How Poor Sleep Affects Your Risk of Dementia
For older adults, too much or too little sleep has been tied to cognitive issues.
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Richard Simmons’s Radical Promise: Exercise Is for Everybody
By preaching that you didn’t have to already be slim to work out, Simmons reshaped the fitness industry — and ushered in the modern era of exercise.
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Are You Sure Your Ozempic Is Real? Fakes Are on the Rise.
Counterfeit versions of popular drugs used for weight loss are putting people at risk.
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What Did Dr. Ruth Mean to You?
Her frank and frequently hilarious advice about sex, love and loneliness reached millions. How did she influence your life?
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Some families pay thousands of dollars to store their children’s stem cells with the hope of a healthier future for them. But Sarah Kliff, an investigative health care reporter for The New York Times, explains that the cells are rarely useful and are sometimes contaminated.
By Sarah Kliff, Claire Hogan and James Surdam
Conventional toilet paper has a big environmental impact. We’ve got the lowdown on alternatives, from bamboo tissue to bidets.
By Elizabeth Anne Brown
The cases, which have yet to be confirmed, were identified in farmworkers culling infected birds. The risk to the public remains low, health officials said.
By Isabella Kwai
Frank and funny, the taboo-breaking psychologist said things on television and radio that would have been shocking coming from almost anyone else.
By Daniel Lewis
More than a million public records were used to assess whether nursing homes were meeting state staffing minimums.
By Jordan Rau and Holly K. Hacker
A leading biochemist, she helped shape guidelines in the 1970s for genetic-engineering while calming public fears of a spread of deadly lab-made microbes.
By Denise Gellene
The Times wants to hear from patients and providers about medical practices affiliated with Optum, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group. Share your experience below.
By Chris Hamby
Lisa Pisano, 54, lived with the organ for 47 days. She was the first patient to receive both a heart pump and an organ transplant, doctors said.
By Roni Caryn Rabin
In a report, the regulator sharply criticized pharmacy benefit managers, a turnaround from its longstanding tolerance of their practices.
By Reed Abelson and Rebecca Robbins
She was involved in a minor car accident three months earlier. Could that somehow be the cause?
By Lisa Sanders, M.D.
Every spring, hundreds of bicyclists gather in Santa Fe, N.M., to ride through a high-desert landscape rich in art, history and Indigenous culture. This year, the author, who lost the use of his legs 12 years ago, joined them.
By Bill Becher
A New York Times mental health reporter wants to hear why therapy didn’t work out.
By Christina Caron
The White House said President Biden had met with a neurologist only three times in more than three years in office, and implied that the doctor’s visits were related to treating other people.
By Emily Baumgaertner and Peter Baker
The research, which builds on previous work, eventually may lead to a more objective diagnostic tool, scientists said.
By Teddy Rosenbluth
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Climate change and contaminated water have combined to create an epidemic of kidney disease.
By Kang-Chun Cheng and Apoorva Mandavilli
After years of delay, millions of malaria vaccines are being supplied to children in Africa. Tens of thousands died waiting.
By Stephanie Nolen
He found that a failed contraceptive, tamoxifen, could block the growth of cancer cells, opening up a whole new class of treatment.
By Clay Risen
The drug, Kisunla, made by Eli Lilly, is the latest in a new class of treatments that could modestly slow cognitive decline in initial stages of the disease but also carry safety risks.
By Pam Belluck
The insects seem to know which injuries to treat as they engage in a behavior that seems almost human.
By Annie Roth
She developed one of the first modern intensive care units for premature babies, helping newborns to breathe with lifesaving new treatments.
By Randi Hutter Epstein
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