Health

In 11 years of reporting for CNN, I did my share of stories on abortion. And when the day-after abortion pill became available, I remember thinking that because early stage pregnancies could be ended with just a pill, the dynamics of the abortion debate would change. And they did – just not in the way I expected.

Even a generic, blank form is considered confidential by Vermont’s Agency of Human Services.

When VPR requested a blank “Critical Incident Review Form” from the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living, or DAIL earlier this month, we received the blank form — redacted.   

The "Dr. Dynasaur" program has been providing healthcare for children and pregnant women for thirty years, and it's gone through a number of expansions and iterations. We're talking about how Dr. Dynasaur works, who is covered, how the program has changed since its introduction and how it might evolve going forward.

A bill designed to boost broadband internet in Vermont has raised concerns that it will also speed the expansion of allegedly hazardous wireless technology.

A new study has revealed some interesting findings about how kids' involvement in team sports can impact the development of the adolescent brain in positive ways.

The Vermont Legislature has taken aim at reducing youth smoking rates with a trio of bills. Rep. George Till of Jericho joined Vermont Edition to update us on the content, goals and current status of the legislation.

There are now more than 760 cases of measles across the U.S., in the worst outbreak in decades. Vermont public health officials have been working for years to raise vaccination rates for measles and other communicable diseases. We're talking with doctors and state health officials about Vermont's vaccination statistics and how they're preparing for a potential measles outbreak.

Doctors, psychiatrists and other health professionals say marijuana can be very damaging to young and developing brains and that they're seeing young people with increasingly negative effects from consuming the drug. 

Decades ago, my kindergarten class memorized Robert Frost's Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening. I recall that we performed it several times, gap-toothed, cheerfully yelling the verses to general audience approval. The interesting thing is that the poem has stayed with me all these years, popping up at odd moments to warm my imagination.

New research show that a deer tick's diet - what kind of animal it drinks blood from - can significantly alter the tick's microbiome. That, in turn can impact whether the tick is likely to pass on pathogens like the ones that cause Lyme disease.

Saturday is the semiannual National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, when people are encouraged to bring their unwanted medications to "take back" locations set up by local law enforcement agencies.

Vermont, like the rest of the country, is dealing with an opioid abuse crisis. And all ideas are on the table for ways to help people who are struggling with addiction and prevent people from becoming addicted in the first place. An approach known as the Icelandic method targets the environment that young people are growing up in.

As baby boomers age and the workforce shrinks, experts fear there will not be enough people or money to care for all our elders. In many ways, that reality has already arrived in Vermont. 

In recent years, dozens of Vermont seniors have ended up waiting in hospitals after being turned away from nursing homes. According to officials at hospitals across the state, many Vermonters wait months for placement in a nursing home. Some wait a year or more.