Focus

Frederic Bertley is an immunologist and educator who has helped develop DNA vaccines for HIV/AIDS and has worked on global health projects in Haiti, Sudan, and the Canadian Arctic. Since 2017, he has been president and CEO of the Center of Science and Industry (COSI), a 320,000-square-foot science museum and research hub in Columbus, Ohio. He also co-created and hosts the television show QED...

Whether to wear a face mask to prevent respiratory illnesses has been one of the most divisive debates during the pandemic. After a Cochrane review in 2023 found that face masks made “little or no difference” to the spread of respiratory viruses, the issue became highly politicized. Tom Jefferson, lead author of the Cochrane review, told me “There is just no evidence that they make any...

How do we sense the need to urinate? The basic urge is surprisingly complex and can go awry as we age. You’re driving somewhere, eyes on the road, when you start to feel a tingling sensation in your lower abdomen. That extra-large Coke you drank an hour ago has made its way through your kidneys into your bladder. “Time to pull over,” you think, scanning for an exit ramp. To most people, pulling...

ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. In 2020, Congress passed the No Surprises Act to protect patients from exorbitant medical bills that had burdened Americans with tens of thousands of dollars in debt. The law was designed to decrease the charges for patients treated by an...

Most people know the “middleman” drives up the cost of everything, but few Americans see how a “middleman” in healthcare is contributing to spiraling costs. The general public, and surprisingly many physicians, don’t know the Affordable Care Act requires insurance companies to spend at least 80 to 85 percent of their premium dollars on medical care. The MLR or Medical Loss Ratio states if an...

In the realm of healthcare, medical records are invaluable documents that contain vital information about an individual’s health history, diagnoses, treatments, and medications. Access to medical records is not only essential for providing quality healthcare but also for patients to understand their health status and make informed decisions about their care. However, the release of medical...