The story of the AIDS movement is one of regular people: students, bartenders, stay-at-home mothers, teachers, retired lawyers, immigrants, Catholic nuns, newly out gay men who had just arrived in…
Category: Anthropology
When you lose your health insurance, you may also lose your primary doctor – and that hurts your health
When you lose your health insurance or switch to a plan that skimps on preventive care, something critical breaks. The connection to your primary care provider, usually a doctor, gets…
When developing countries band together, lifesaving drugs become cheaper and easier to buy − with trade-offs
Procuring lifesaving drugs is a daunting challenge in many low- and middle-income countries. Essential treatments are often neither available nor affordable in these nations, even decades after the drugs entered…
Data on sexual orientation and gender is critical to public health – without it, health crises continue unnoticed
As part of the Trump administration’s efforts aimed at stopping diversity, equity and inclusion, the government has been restricting how it monitors public health. Along with cuts to federally funded…
Colorado’s fentanyl criminalization bill won’t solve the opioid epidemic, say the people most affected
Colorado passed the Fentanyl Accountability and Prevention Bill in May 2022. The legislation made the possession of small amounts of fentanyl a felony, rather than a misdemeanor. Felonies are more…
House tax-and-spending bill and other Trump administration changes could make millions of people lose their health insurance coverage
President Donald Trump has promised not to cut Medicaid many times over the past decade, including in the tax-and-spending legislative package he has made a top priority in his second…
RFK Jr’s shakeup of vaccine advisory committee raises worries about scientific integrity of health recommendations
On June 11, 2025, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a slate of eight new members to serve on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which advises the Centers…
Older adults with dementia misjudge their financial skills – which may make them more vulnerable to fraud, new research finds
Older adults diagnosed with dementia lose their ability to assess how well they manage their finances, according to a recent study I co-authored in The Gerontologist. In comparison, people of…
