Will Stone

An expected change in FDA policy would make it easier for men who have sex with men to donate blood.

Health

FDA moves to ease restrictions on blood donations for men who have sex with men

Rob Stein

Long criticized as discriminatory, the policy has prevented many gay and bisexual men from donating blood. The Food and Drug Administration revealed a draft of its new approach on Friday.

Humans have an elegant and intricate system of internal processes that help our bodies keep time, with exposure to sunlight, caffeine and meal timing all playing a role. But that doesn't account for "precision waking."

I usually wake up just ahead of my alarm. What's up with that?

Will Stone

Call it "precision waking" — the alleged ability to decide when you want to wake up and then doing so, without an alarm. If you think you can do it, you're not alone, though how is still mysterious.

The federal government's new opioid prescribing guidelines may help doctors better manage patients with chronic pain who need consistent doses of pain medicines. For example, one patient takes tramadol regularly for serious pain caused by osteogenesis imperfecta, or brittle bone disease.

CDC issues new opioid prescribing guidance, giving doctors more leeway to treat pain

Will Stone

The updated recommendations seek to course correct after guidelines from 2016 were criticized for harshly limiting access to needed pain medication.

Physician Assistant Susan Eng-Na, right, administers a monkeypox vaccine during a vaccination clinic in New York. New cases are starting to decline in New York and some other U.S. cities.

The monkeypox outbreak may be slowing in the U.S., but health officials urge caution

Will Stone

Rates of new cases are declining in major cities, suggesting public health campaigns are working. But the spread

The new booster shot would be an update to Pfizer's current version of the shot, which was designed for the original strain of the coronavirus.

Health

Pfizer asks FDA to greenlight new omicron booster shots, which could arrive this fall

Pien Huang

Pfizer has submitted data on its bivalent COVID-19 booster shot that specifically targets the latest omicron subvariants. If authorized, the company says the shots could be ready as soon as September.

In many places, there's still a major shortage of monkeypox vaccines. A plan to stretch the U.S. supply could help get shots into arms more quickly, but it's also untested and introduces new challenges.

Health

The new U.S. monkeypox vaccine strategy offers more doses — and uncertainty

Will Stone

Missteps and delays have hampered the U.S. effort to vaccinate people against monkeypox. Now state health officials and community members are trying to adapt to a controversial "dose sparing" plan.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention laid out new guidance for the national response to COVID-19 on Thursday.

With new guidance, CDC ends test-to-stay for schools and relaxes COVID rules

Will Stone

Revised guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looks to minimize COVID-19's disruption of daily life while conceding that the pandemic isn't over.

The monkeypox outbreak is growing in the U.S. and vaccines remain in short supply.

With supplies low, FDA authorizes plan to stretch limited monkeypox vaccine doses

Pien Huang

The Biden administration is allowing the shot to be given between layers of skin — a method that only requires a fifth of the full dose — in order to increase vaccinations and slow the outbreak.

Poll: Black, Native American and Latino families face serious problems from inflation

Will Stone

Those households are struggling to stay afloat, according to a new poll from NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

An emergency declaration frees up resources to help fight the monkeypox outbreak. There are currently more than 6,600 cases in the U.S.

Health

White House declares monkeypox a public health emergency

Will Stone

Declaring a public health emergency can free up resources to help the administration respond to the monkeypox outbreak. So far more than 6,000 people in the U.S. have been infected.