Vol. 1, No. 61
Topic
Health is American Courant's coverage of medicine, public health, and the U.S. healthcare system. We cover the bench-to-bedside path of new drugs and devices through the FDA; the public-health response to infectious disease through the CDC and state health departments; the insurance economics that decide who gets care and what they pay for it through CMS, the ACA marketplaces, and the major insurers; and the research itself through peer-reviewed journals, clinical trials, and academic medical centers.
We pay close attention to drug pricing, hospital consolidation, mental health access, maternal and reproductive care, public health emergencies, and the federal programs — Medicare, Medicaid, the VA — that cover roughly half of all Americans. We try to distinguish a strong clinical signal from a hopeful press release, an early study from a confirmed result, and a policy debate from a settled legal question.
Where a health story is really driven by federal action or court rulings, we cross-link to politics; where it's about the household cost of care, see personal finance; where it sits at the science end of the spectrum, see science and technology.
Articles in this section consistently cite primary sources: the FDA briefing document, the CDC MMWR report, the published study, the agency rule, the company's trial readout, the CMS payment notice. We do not summarize a press release without checking the underlying data.
Three babies were hospitalized with botulism before Nara Organics pulled its formula. The recall came after the harm, on the company's say-so — because Congress left infant formula out of the FDA's recall hammer.
The New World screwworm just infested a calf in Texas, the first U.S. case in decades. The flesh-eating pest was beaten once. Letting it back is a failure of vigilance, not bad luck.
A flesh-eating parasitic fly has returned to Texas for the first time since 1966, putting ranchers on alert as beef prices hit record highs.
WHO declared a global health emergency Sunday over a rare Ebola strain that killed roughly 80 people in Congo before field tests could even detect it. No vaccine exists.
A deadly Andes virus outbreak on polar cruise ship MV Hondius has killed three people and sent 18 Americans to federal quarantine in Nebraska and Atlanta.
Kyle Diamantas became acting FDA commissioner with no drug regulatory record. The Supreme Court's mifepristone access order expires at 5 p.m. Thursday.
When an FDA commissioner is forced out for defying White House pressure, drug safety has become a bargaining chip — and every patient pays the cost.
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary resigned Tuesday after 13 months of conflict with the White House over vaping and abortion pill policy.
The U.S. has confirmed 1,814 measles cases across 37 states in 2026, triggering a formal review of the elimination status America has maintained since 2000.
The FDA authorized early access to daraxonrasib in 48 hours after a trial showed the drug nearly doubled survival in metastatic pancreatic cancer.
A federal appeals court blocked mail-order mifepristone in all 50 states Friday. Drugmakers filed emergency Supreme Court appeals the next day.
Nebraska became the first state to enforce Medicaid work requirements Friday, putting up to 41,000 low-income adults at risk of losing health coverage.
OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma officially closes Friday as a $7.4 billion settlement clears court, with victims expected to receive $8,000 to $16,000 each.
The FDA approved Otarmeni, a single-injection gene therapy that restored hearing in 80% of deaf children in trials. Regeneron says eligible U.S. patients won't pay for the drug.
After losing $100 million in Medicaid funding and closing five clinics, Planned Parenthood's largest affiliate now offers $9 Botox and IV drips.
Researchers identified two specific variants on the GLP-1 receptor gene that appear to predict little or no response to semaglutide. The clinical implications are significant. The insurance implications are bigger.
