This week: Zika's rise in Florida is giving way to new tips for pregnant women to avoid getting it. Opioid dependence leads patients to an avalanche of medical services. And tuberculosis hasn't gone away, despite focus on other diseases. These and more ...
With Zika in Miami, What Should Pregnant Women Across The U.S. Do?
Fourteen people in Miami have caught Zika virus from mosquito bites. While officials say the virus is still confined to one square mile in Miami-Dade County, public health advocates are making sure that women -- particularly those who are pregnant -- know how to protect themselves. Michaeleen Doucleff reports for NPR's Shots. (Photo by coniferconifer/via Flickr)
'Guilty But Mentally Ill' Doesn't Protect Against Harsh Sentences
"Legal and psychiatric experts say that jurors generally have trouble attributing violent crimes to mental illness, especially if a defendant does not meet jurors' preconceived notions of what a mentally ill person looks like." Natalie Jacewicz reports for NPR.
Opioid Dependence Leads To ‘Tsunami’ Of Medical Services, Study Finds
People with opioid dependence used medical services at a rate that grew more than 3,000 percent between 2007 and 2014, and it has medical professionals and officials searching for new ways to offer treatment to the addicted. Julie Appleby of Kaiser Health News has this story.
The Danger of Ignoring Tuberculosis
Ebola and Zika virus get the headlines, but tuberculosis, that disease associated in the public's collective mind as a disease from more than a century ago, still lingers. We ignore it at our own peril, writes The Atlantic's Adrienne LaFrance. Read the story here.
Quick Hits
Tammy Drummond from KALW in San Francisco explores how some people from tough neighborhoods are making a difference with life-saving careers.
McDonald's says it has rid its chicken of antibiotics ... mostly. Allison Aubrey reports for NPR's The Salt blog.
And, we've been told about the health benefits of flossing our whole lives. Turns out, there's little evidence that it's actually beneficial. The Associated Press stirred things up this week with an investigation into that scant evidence.
