On June 26, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a 6-3 ruling that preserves free preventive care under the Affordable Care Act, a popular benefit that helps approximately 150…
Category: Anthropology
Keeping brain-dead pregnant women on life support raises ethical issues that go beyond abortion politics
Adriana Smith, a 30-year-old woman from Georgia who had been declared brain-dead in February 2025, spent 16 weeks on life support while doctors worked to keep her body functioning well…
1 in 3 Florida third graders have untreated cavities – how parents can protect their children’s teeth
“He hides his smile in every school photo,” Jayden’s mother told me, holding up a picture of her 6-year-old son. I first met Jayden – not his real name –…
Supreme Court rules that states may deny people covered by Medicaid the freedom to choose Planned Parenthood as their health care provider
Having the freedom to choose your own health care provider is something many Americans take for granted. But the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority ruled on June 25, 2025, in…
Toxic algae blooms are lasting longer in Lake Erie − why that’s a worry for people and pets
Federal scientists released their annual forecast for Lake Erie’s harmful algal blooms on June 26, 2025, and they expect a mild to moderate season. However, anyone who comes in contact…
I’m a physician who has looked at hundreds of studies of vaccine safety, and here’s some of what RFK Jr. gets wrong
In the four months since he began serving as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made many public statements about vaccines that…
A preservative removed from childhood vaccines 20 years ago is still causing controversy today − a drug safety expert explains
An expert committee that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccines is meeting for the first time since Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. abruptly replaced the…
Philly psychology students map out local landmarks and hidden destinations where they feel happiest
What makes you happy? Perhaps a good night’s sleep, or a wonderful meal with friends? I am the director of the Happiness Lab at Drexel University, where I also teach…
More than half of US teens have had at least one cavity, but fluoride programs in schools help prevent them – new research
Programs delivering fluoride varnish in schools significantly reduce cavities in children. That is a key finding of our recently published study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Fluoride varnish…
3 years after abortion rights were overturned, contraception access is at risk
On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization eliminated a nearly 50-year constitutional right to abortion and returned the authority to regulate…
