Genes That Boost Fertility Also Shorten Our Life, Study Suggests
Why do we grow old and die?In the 19th century, the German biologist August Weismann argued that the machinery of life inevitably wore out with time. Death had evolved “for…
Dr. John A. Talbott, Champion of Care for the Mentally Ill, Dies at 88
Dr. John A. Talbott, a psychiatrist who championed the care of vulnerable populations of the mentally ill, especially the homeless — many of whom were left to fend for themselves…
SmileDirectClub Shuts Down, Months After Filing for Bankruptcy
SmileDirectClub, a telehealth company that sold teeth-straightening devices through the mail and faced criticism from medical groups, said on Friday that it had shut down.The company, founded in 2014, sold…
R.S.V. Vaccine Is Slow to Reach Its Target: Older Americans
Toby Gould was an early adopter. In September, Mr. Gould, 78, went to a pharmacy in Hyannis, Mass., to get one of the new vaccines for respiratory syncytial virus, known…
Fund for Nuclear Waste Exposure Victims in Limbo as Congress Balks at Cost
More than two decades ago, Congress declared that victims of government-caused nuclear contamination who developed cancer and other serious illnesses — including uranium miners and those exposed to radiation from…
New Sickle Cell Therapies Will Be Out of Reach Where They Are Needed Most
The Food and Drug Administration’s approval on Friday of two groundbreaking gene therapy treatments for sickle cell disease has brought a rare moment of hope and celebration to people with…
F.D.A. Approves 2 Sickle Cell Treatments, One Using CRISPR Gene Editing
On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first gene editing therapy ever to be used in humans, for sickle cell disease, a debilitating blood disorder caused by a…
Bellevue Hospital Rushes Patients Into Weight-Loss Surgery
Early one morning in February, a guard clanged on the door of David Mustiga’s jail cell on Rikers Island. Soon, the 43-year-old was shackled and put on a bus to…
White House Delays a Decision on Banning Menthol Cigarettes
The Biden administration delayed a decision on Wednesday about whether it would ban menthol cigarettes amid intense lobbying from tobacco companies, convenience stores and industry-backed groups that contend that billions…
How to Protect Your Dog From the ‘Mystery’ Respiratory Disease
As an unidentified canine respiratory illness continues to pop up in clusters around the United States — causing symptoms like cough, fever and lethargy, and in more serious cases, hospitalization…