When 25-year-old Alex LaMorie called Howard County Police for help during a mental health crisis, his family expected officers trained to de-escalate the encounter. Instead, police fatally shot the Columbia man, who had autism.

Advocates say LaMorie’s March 1 death reflects a broader problem across Maryland and nationwide: Police are often ...Read more

An elementary school teacher chose a low-price health insurance plan but soon realized she wasn’t clear about what it would mean for her family’s finances.

When enhanced federal subsidies expired at the end of 2025, a lot of people buying their own health insurance on the state and federal exchanges saw their expected monthly rates jump. To...Read more

For years, Nino Orsini Jr. thought his restless nights were normal.

“I would go to bed at a decent hour. I would log six to eight hours of sleep where I was unconscious, but I wasn't getting what is ‘actual’ sleep,” said Orsini, 48, of Seven Fields, Pennsylvania.

Like an estimated 30 million Americans, Orsini was living with ...Read more

Some severe headaches aren't migraines. They may be caused by a nerve being pinched. When other treatments don't work, surgery may offer relief. Learn more from Dr. Antonio Forte, a Mayo Clinic microvascular plastic and reconstructive surgeon with deep experience in migraine surgery.

Often called trigger site-induced headaches, pain from ...Read more

Many parents wonder when their child is ready to walk or bike to school. Children usually aren't ready to start walking to school without an adult until about fifth grade, or around age 10. Younger children are more impulsive and less cautious around traffic, and they often don't fully understand other potential dangers they could come across.

...Read more

DENVER — People treating mental health problems at Children’s Hospital Colorado don’t have to look at the calendar or the weather to know that April has arrived.

Kids and teens who previously felt fine are seeking outpatient help, existing outpatients need more support and the number of young people showing up in mental health crisis is ...Read more

Millions of people who apply for Medicaid in the coming years will have to prove they’ve been working, going to school, or volunteering for at least a month before they can gain or retain health insurance through the government program.

But Republican lawmakers in some states think the new rules — part of the GOP’s One Big Beautiful Bill ...Read more

Over the last decade, poison control centers around the country have received tens of thousands of calls from consumers of kratom products reporting adverse and life-threatening health effects, with researchers saying reports in 2025 reached a new level.

Last month, researchers analyzed information from the National Poison Data System and found...Read more

The Trump administration is taking aim at what it calls rampant fraud in state Medicaid programs. But by focusing almost exclusively on Democratic-led states, it has handed ammunition to critics who say it mainly wants to embarrass its political enemies, not save taxpayer dollars.

In announcing earlier this month that Vice President JD Vance ...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I'd like to become a living kidney donor. What's involved and how do I prepare if I'd like to donate a kidney?

ANSWER: You've made a generous and meaningful decision to become a living kidney donor. More than 90,000 people in the U.S. are on a waiting list for a kidney transplant.

Your donation offers life-changing benefits ...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Florida’s childhood vaccination rates continued to drop in the 2025-26 school year, even as measles cases in the state soared in 2026.

The vaccination rate for Florida kindergartners now hovers around 88% for the second school year in a row, after having been well above 90% in the decade before the pandemic, ...Read more

A specific allotment of the medication Xanax, typically prescribed to treat mental health challenges including anxiety and panic disorders, has been recalled due to the product’s potential to cause adverse health effects.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials announced the voluntary recall of Xanax, also known as alprazolam, distributed...Read more

Have you been to a licensed cannabis dispensary lately?

My team and I often visit them in the Greater Lansing area to invite cannabis users to participate in our studies. As soon as we walk in, we are met with a dazzling array of products: high-potency vape cartridges, gourmet gummies, premium marijuana flowers and more.

This ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — California in 2026 has already seen its highest number of annual measles cases in seven years, health officials said, amid an ongoing resurgence of a notoriously infectious disease once considered effectively eliminated in the United States.

The looming new domestic beachhead for the disease comes as vaccination rates have ...Read more

New Orleans plans to revamp the commission that oversees city parks and playgrounds and is seeking $5 million in federal aid after an investigation published by Verite News and KFF Health News found high levels of lead contamination in playgrounds throughout the city.

Mayor Helena Moreno signed an executive order on April 7 that creates a task ...Read more

For months, a cloud of fear has hovered over the immigrant community in San Bernardino, California, making it hard for María González to do her job as a community health worker in this city where almost a quarter of residents are foreign-born.

It started building over the summer, fed by news of immigration raids across Southern California, ...Read more

If you watched the Super Bowl in 2026, you likely saw Serena Williams share her weight loss journey on GLP-1 medications in a commercial.

Like millions of others around the country, if you’ve ever considered taking one of these drugs, you probably went online to learn more about where you can get them and how much they cost.

...Read more

COLUMBIA, S.C. — If no new cases occur before April 26, the measles outbreak that has sickened almost 1,000 people in South Carolina's Upstate region will be considered over.

Dr. Brannon Traxler, the chief medical officer for the South Carolina Department of Public Health, said in a news conference Tuesday the last reported measles case was ...Read more