Last Easter while my children were sorting through their baskets of chocolate eggs and jelly beans, my son looked up from the table and asked a simple question:

“Why don’t Grandma and Grandpa eat candy like we do?”

It was the kind of question children ask without really thinking. To him, it seemed obvious: Candy is ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Mia Angulo, who is pregnant and due in May, is living in a tent with her boyfriend in the predominantly Latino neighborhood of Boyle Heights.

Lingering pain from a car crash two months ago, on top of an already hardscrabble life, has Angulo worried about her pregnancy. So, she was relieved when a mobile street medicine van from ...Read more

When someone is sick in this country, they don’t ask for a politician. They ask for a doctor, a nurse, or a therapist — a front line health care worker. They look for someone they trust.

Right now, our country’s health care system is sick.

Families are anxious about their finances. Many are being forced to decide whether they can afford ...Read more

About 1 in every 10 children and teens in the U.S. has a food allergy, an abnormal immune response to a specific food. That's roughly two kids per classroom.

Food allergies have risen by 50% since the 1990s. With this in mind, the American Academy of Pediatrics advocates for the health of all children who must avoid certain foods to stay ...Read more

Health care and social assistance professions added 693,000 jobs in 2025. Without those gains, the U.S. economy would have lost roughly 570,000 jobs.

At first glance, these numbers suggest that health care is a growth engine in an otherwise slowing labor market. But a closer look reveals something more troubling for patients and health care ...Read more

For decades, Connecticut and federal lawmakers have tried in vain to rein in medical costs as expenses have continued to soar for patients and employers.

In response, a key legislative committee voted on mostly party lines last week to spend $200 million in order to make costs more affordable and also blunt the expiration of enhanced premium ...Read more

For the past three years,a novel form of bird flu has wiped out millions of animals in the United States, from snow geese to backyard chickens.

But conversations around the outbreak have grown more urgent in recent months, as Louisiana recorded the country's first human death from bird flu in January and the death toll for animals continues to ...Read more

Over the past year, hospitals have felt the pain of thousands of layoffs — some even pushed into dire financial straits — as they have been stripped of billions of dollars in federal and state funding for health care.

Hospital executives are hinting of a second wave of layoffs as some downsize their operations while the federal government ...Read more

Grieving mother Naomi White walked along Kennywood Boulevard in West Mifflin, Pa., on March 15 with dozens of friends and family members who had gathered to call attention to the December traffic death of her 13-year-old son, Terrel Byars Jr.

Then she was hit with pepper spray. Within moments she was coughing and struggling to breathe.

After ...Read more

In a cozy room at New Directions Mental Health in O’Hara, Pennsylvania, patients show up with warm blankets or soft pillows they bring from home. They dim the lights or use a provided Northern Lights-like projector to set the mood as they settle in for ketamine therapy, a rapidly growing treatment for stubborn depression.

“We’ve seen it ...Read more

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

Why do I need to sleep for a long time at night? – Sly M., 6, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Just like eating, drinking or breathing, sleep is an essential part of life.

...Read more

When Raven Kinser walked into a Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles office two summers ago, she completed a driver’s license application that included the option to register as an organ donor. The form provides a checkbox to opt in, but not one to opt out. Kinser left the donor registration box unchecked, reflecting her decision to reverse ...Read more

Western Massachusetts, a patchwork of rural communities and low-income cities, is a difficult place to find a primary care doctor if you don’t already have one. Frustrated patients often turn to online forums, asking for leads or advice on how to find a practice that is accepting new patients.

One name repeatedly crops up in these discussions...Read more

In January, when President Donald Trump unveiled his one-page outline to address health care spending, dubbed “The Great Healthcare Plan,” he specifically mentioned the Affordable Care Act’s role in driving up costs.

“I call it the unaffordable care act,” he said. He reprised the line in his 2026 State of the Union address, blaming �...Read more

Public health advocates have largely applauded a Massachusetts judge’s ruling on March 16, 2026, to temporarily block major changes to vaccine policy made by the Department of Health and Human Services since 2025.

The ruling pauses two major actions ushered in by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. since he stepped into the role. ...Read more

FORT WORTH, Texas -- At your average dentist’s appointment, you get reminded to brush your teeth and floss regularly.

Stacey Griner, an associate professor with UNT Health Fort Worth, wants to add one more thing to that list: conversations about how to prevent HPV-related cancers.

Griner wants more dental health providers to talk to patients...Read more

DETROIT — Health officials have confirmed a measles outbreak in Washtenaw County, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said Thursday.

A measles outbreak is defined as three or more related cases of measles, and three linked cases have been reported since March 12 in Washtenaw County, MDHHS said in a press release. Measles is a...Read more

Since the Affordable Care Act subsidies expired at the end of 2025, Americans have undoubtedly been encountering a great deal of confusing information surrounding health care costs and insurance plans.

From five-figure deductibles to premiums higher than people’s mortgages, costs are rising across the board.

With this comes ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — For weeks, Mehmet Oz has been waging a public feud with California leaders over health care fraud, accusing the blue state of failing to adequately combat such abuse.

Oz, who heads the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, alleged that there was approximately $3.5 billion of fraud in the hospice and home health ...Read more