Health

Robert Wilkie, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, visited the VA hospital in White River Junction on Friday. Wilkie spoke to VPR by phone about a number of issues affecting the state's veteran population.

The synthetic opioid fentanyl is causing deadly overdoses to spike across the country. But while concerns have been raised about accidental exposure, it is incredibly unlikely that chance contact with the substance through skin or inhalation can be toxic. We're talking about the science behind fentanyl and how it acts on the body, plus which dangers are real and which are overblown.

There’s a wooden replica of the Statue of Liberty, complete with a light-up torch, standing on the ice of Lake Parker, in the Northeast Kingdom village of West Glover. It’s there to publicize a new ice out contest to benefit the Glover Ambulance Squad, but it’s a story that goes back 135 years.

A bill under consideration by the Vermont Legislature would decriminalize the possession of unprescribed buprenorphine, a drug used to treat opioid use disorder. Proponents say the bill would save lives; critics say it would send a dangerous message.

We're jumping ahead to the year 2050 to imagine what life will be like in Vermont by mid-century, and looking back from an imagined future to talk about how Vermont can address climate change and other challenges. 

Family and friends of 6-month-old Harper Rose Briar will hold a fundraiser in Rutland Monday to offset funeral and legal bills.

The Pittsford infant’s death in January was ruled a homicide. Stacey Vaillancourt, the baby’s daycare provider, faces felony manslaughter charges for allegedly administering unprescribed allergy medicine. She pleaded not guilty.

While experts say this tragedy may be a first in Vermont, infant deaths from drugs like Benadryl are not uncommon.

My mother was politically engaged and her driving issue was abortion. Before Roe v. Wade was passed, she’d had friends who’d desperately sought illegal abortions in the tenements of Harlem, sometimes with tragic results.

Getting an accurate snapshot of what "drugs of choice" young people are using can be extremely difficult. We'll hear about a study just launched in Vermont that aims to provide that information more quickly than in the past.

For six years, Greg and Dawn Tatro watched their daughter struggle with an opioid addiction. Then in February, Jenna Tatro died at age 26 in their home in Johnson. Now her parents hope to create a community-based recovery center to help others fight addiction.

The town of Springfield has struggled with declining jobs and population loss since long before news broke that one of its largest employers, the local hospital, is losing money. If Springfield Hospital closes, it would be a blow to a community that’s been trying to reinvent itself.

One of the most important women in Vermont history is not known by her full name. A year before the national Roe v. Wade decision, “Jacqueline R,” was part of a landmark court case in Vermont that provided abortion access here.

The House Judiciary Committee has approved legislation decriminalizing possession of buprenorphine. But some law enforcement officials say non-prescribed use of the drug, which is used to treat opioid use disorder, should remain a crime.

Most of us take for granted the ability to recognize the faces of our friends and loved ones. But for about two percent of individuals, it isn't that easy. They have a condition called prosopagnosia or face blindness. Brad Duchaine, Dartmouth College professor of psychological and brain sciences, joins us to discuss the latest research in this field.

VPR's investigative reporter Emily Corwin has been looking into the care received by young psychiatric patients in crisis. As with adults, children and adolescents can spend days in hospital emergency departments. And some parents and doctors have complained about the quality and amount of care they receive from psychiatrists while in the ER.