Misoprostol is typically used as part of a two-drug protocol for a medication abortion. But it is also safe and effective when used alone, doctors say. Getty Images hide caption
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Medical Treatments
Samantha Pohlman, a registered nurse, performs a cosmetic treatment procedure on Christine Ruiz at Planned Parenthood - B Street in Sacramento, Calif., Friday, March 20. Planned Parenthood is expanding its services by offering cosmetic treatments like injections to expand its revenue sources. Tracy Barbutes for NPR hide caption
Trump and Congress cut funding for Planned Parenthood. Can Botox keep it afloat?
Synthetic peptides are gaining popularity as a treatment, though most having not been tested for safety in humans. The government may make a change to allow compounding pharmacies to produce them. 5./15 WEST/iStockphoto/Getty Images hide caption
People taking GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic for diabetes were less likely to be diagnosed with substance use disorder, a new study shows. Maria Fabrizio for NPR hide caption
GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic can curb addiction risk, study finds
Patients with high cholesterol often take medicine for years to manage it but a new gene-editing treatment has potential to make a difference. TEK IMAGE/Science Photo Library/Getty Images hide caption
Caleb Strickland, 4, has an artificial heart pump keeping him alive while he waits for a transplant. Nora Strickland, his mom, says she feels far away from the Trump administration's disputes with universities. Elissa Nadworny/NPR hide caption
This 4-year-old’s heart is failing. A federal grant that might help him was canceled
A new study finds that a single dose of LSD can ease generalized anxiety disorder, or GAD, a disabling form of anxiety that affects about 1 in 10 people over the course of a year. mikkelwilliam/iStockphoto/Getty Images hide caption
The Texas Legislature passed a bipartisan law aimed at clarifying the emergency exception to the state's abortion ban this spring. The law is called The Life of the Mother Act. Gabriel C. Pérez/KUT News hide caption
Why is some plastic surgery "good," and why is some "bad?" Anna Efetova/Getty Images hide caption
The Wisconsin Supreme Court listens to arguments during a redistricting hearing at the state Capitol, Nov. 21, 2023, in Madison, Wis. The court decided Wednesday, July 2, 2025, that the state's 176-year-old law does not ban abortion. Ruthie Hauge/AP/Pool The Capital Times hide caption
U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a news conference at the Department of Health and Human Services. Alex Wong/Getty Images hide caption
Autism rates have exploded. Could the definition be partly to blame?
Justin Carlyle, age 23, photographed on the street in Kensington, a neighborhood of Philadelphia, has lived with addiction to fentanyl and other drugs for a decade. After a decade when overdoses devastated young Americans, drug deaths among people in the U.S. under age 35 are plummeting. The shift is saving thousands of young lives every year. Rachel Wisniewski/NPR hide caption
Fentanyl deaths among the young are dropping. Can the trend continue?
Around 2% of the population struggles with obsessive compulsive disorder, or OCD. Andrii Yalanskyi/Getty Images hide caption
The researcher who wants to expand treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that he will no longer recommend that healthy children and pregnant people get COVID-19 shots. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption
The CDC changed its COVID vaccine guidance. What does that mean for you?
The Egyptian cobra (Naja haje) is a lethal venomous snake native to Africa. Its bite is one of multiple that could be treated with a new universal antivenom... developed from a human named Tim Friede. Michele D'Amico/Getty Images hide caption
A man let snakes bite him for years. He could be the key to a universal antivenom
Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom presents his revised 2025-2026 state budget during a news conference in Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday, May 14, 2025. Rich Pedroncelli/AP hide caption
A selection of eye drops line a shelf at a pharmacy in Los Angeles in December 2023. Richard Vogel/AP hide caption
The European fiddler crab (Afruca tangeri) lives along the Atlantic coast, from Portugal in southwestern Europe to Angola in western Africa. Male crabs have one small claw and one big claw that they use in their dances to attract a mate. Valter Jacinto/Getty Images hide caption
Into dudes who drum? You might be a female fiddler crab
Dr. Peter Marks testifies during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on the federal coronavirus response on Capitol Hill in 2021. Susan Walsh/Getty Images hide caption
Vaccine expert worries child measles deaths are being 'normalized'
Measles is spreading in West Texas and New Mexico. Isolated cases mostly linked to international travel have been reported in about a dozen other states. Bilanol/Getty Images hide caption
Susan Bell plays with a fidget toy at her home as part of her physical therapy on September 16, 2024 in St. Charles, Mo. The toys help provide Susan with cognitive stimulation. Michael B. Thomas for NPR / @miketphotog hide caption
A Medicare card is seen last spring. The entity known as the Department of Government Efficiency is looking for fraud and waste at The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Jenny Kane/AP hide caption
Towana Looney (right) and her daughter Tytiana at NYU Langone Health in New York. Rob Stein/NPR hide caption