Health
September 27, 2022
The Effort to Redefine Abortion Goes Beyond Ted Cruz
An abortion to save the life of a pregnant patient is “not an abortion,” according to Texas’s junior senator.
Health
Reporting and analysis about the innovation, trends, and business of medicine and health care
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Health
August 16, 2022
When Does the Life of a Pregnant Texan Count Under the State’s New Abortion Ban?
We asked for clarification from 99 Texas legislators who support the law, plus the attorney general who will enforce it, for clarification. Only one granted an interview.
Health
August 9, 2022
West Texas Is a Dangerous Place to Be Pregnant. It’s Getting Worse.
Texas leads the U.S. in maternity ward closures, and nowhere is this more of an issue than in the western part of the state.
Politics & Policy
August 8, 2022
The Houston Doctor Who Foretold America’s Health Care Woes in 1995
When a family doctor spoke out about insurance companies ruining his practice, few expected his appeal would still resonate 27 years later.
Health
July 28, 2022
Texas Bar and Restaurant Owners Are Finding New Ways to Help Employees Seeking Abortions
After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, employers and workers in the majority-female food-service industry stepped up their fund-raising and travel assistance.
Health
July 22, 2022
Fentanyl Test Strips Could Save Lives—But They’re Illegal in Texas
Texas nonprofits are defying state law to distribute harm-reduction tools like fentanyl test strips amid an opioid-overdose epidemic.
Sports
July 15, 2022
The State’s Winningest HS Football Coach Might Forget All His Victories
Dementia forced Phil Danaher off the sidelines. Now the legendary coach at Corpus Christi’s Calallen High School faces life after football.
Business
July 8, 2022
How Houston Went From Oil Boomtown to “BoobTown”
Mimi Swartz reflects on her deep dive into Houston’s breast-implant boom and its larger-than-life profiteers.
Health
June 28, 2022
A New Diabetes Drug Could Help Many in the Rio Grande Valley—If They Can Afford It
Mounjaro is a potential lifesaver in a region with a high rate of obesity. Its price tag may prevent many from accessing it.
Health
June 9, 2022
A New Wave of Shortages Plagues Texas Hospitals
The latest pandemic-related supply chain disruption prevents patients from getting critical imaging scans.
Politics & Policy
May 9, 2022
Texas Abortion Doctors Face a Difficult Choice: To Flee or Not to Flee
With an abortion ban looming as the Supreme Court prepares to overturn Roe, the heartbreak of trying to provide reproductive care is too much for some.
Health
April 21, 2022
How Okra Could Clean Up Our Drinking Water
Researchers at Tarleton State have found an all-natural way to prevent Texans from imbibing quite so many tiny plastic particles.
Travel
April 14, 2022
New High-end Spas Give Dallas the Ultimate Glow-Up
Welcome to the Big D-Tox.
Health
March 21, 2022
Your Pets Have Been Getting COVID-19 Too. Here’s Why That Matters.
A team of scientists at Texas A&M has been testing cats and dogs throughout the pandemic. The CDC is furry interested.
Health
March 8, 2022
Texas Aimed to Ban Abortion Pills—But the Law Has Had Little Effect
“Medication abortion,” already the state’s most common method of ending a pregnancy, has only gained in popularity since the legislature restricted it.
Health
February 23, 2022
This $14,000 Air Filter Promises to “Kill” COVID. Is It Worth the Price?
Taxpayers have spent millions for purifiers promoted by former governor Rick Perry. Could they have gotten the same benefits for far less money?
Health
December 6, 2021
It’s Hard Out Here—Way, Way, Way Out Here—for a Medic
Oil-field medics face long hours, grisly accidents, desolation, and low pay. So why do they do it?
Health
December 1, 2021
How More Efficient Health Care Has Worsened COVID Surges in Texas
A drive toward optimization and hospital consolidation has left the state with less capacity per capita.
Technology
November 8, 2021
Can Virtual Reality Make Older Adults Happier and Healthier?
A Plano company claims its immersive experiences—from scuba diving to jazz concerts—represent the future of eldercare.
Health
November 1, 2021
Doctors Gave Her a Choice: Let COVID-19 Kill Her Child, or Amputate His Limbs
After surviving a devastating accident that left her disabled, Amber McDaniel felt like she could overcome anything. Then her ten-year-old son contracted a rare condition associated with COVID-19.
Libations
October 27, 2021
Free-spirited: Why More Bartenders Are Mixing Cocktails Minus the Booze
Tucked somewhere between the wine list and the dessert menu, Texans are more likely than ever to find—and order—no-gronis, no-jitos, and other alcohol-free drinks.
Health
October 21, 2021
The Making of an Anti-vax Warrior
A few months ago, Jennifer Bridges’s refusal to abide by Houston Methodist’s vaccine mandate thrust her into the national spotlight. Now she’s become a purveyor of conspiracy theories that have fueled the pandemic’s continuation.
Health
October 13, 2021
A Dallas Startup Aims to Build a Big Business—and Transform Lives—by Curing Rare Diseases
Taysha hopes to commercialize UT Southwestern’s groundbreaking gene therapies to benefit its shareholders—and desperately ill children.
Health
October 7, 2021
A Dining Destination Hidden in a North Texas Gas Station
The neighborly Green Spot serves double shots of espresso, steak and eggs, and bison jerky—and legend has it that Erykah Badu is a fan of its vegetarian offerings.
Business
September 15, 2021
How Mark Cuban Plans to Dunk on the Drug Industry
The billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks has teamed up with a polymath and put his name on a company that aims to change the pharmaceutical game.
Health
September 10, 2021
Jamie Wheal Is Austin’s Cassandra of Techno-Optimism
Wheal became a guru in the city’s self-optimization scene, hobnobbing with the likes of Elon Musk. But will anyone listen to his warnings about the movement that brought him renown?
Business
September 1, 2021
The Delta Variant Is Denting Texas’s Construction Industry
Supply-chain disruptions and an increase in COVID-19 cases at job sites are slowing down employment in building.
Health
August 18, 2021
“A Recipe For Disaster”: Two Viruses Surge as Texas Children Return to School
A highly unusual summer outbreak of RSV and an increase in COVID-19 cases among kids have overrun hospitals.
Health
July 29, 2021
Chronic Illness Cost This Former Dallas Museum Director Her Career. Embracing Novelty Gave Her New Life.
Working with UT-Dallas's Center for BrainHealth, Bonnie Pitman uses her art expertise to help physicians and people living with debilitating conditions.
Health
July 16, 2021
Can This Houston-Born COVID Vaccine Save the Developing World?
For low-income countries, the less-expensive, easier-to-make Corbevax could prove a godsend.
Sponsored
July 12, 2021
Healing with a Clear Target
Tania Betancourt, Ph.D., is one of a team of Texas State University professors leading work in targeted cancer treatment research using nanomaterials. She’s also sharing real-world techniques that help college students build a biomedical future. By Catherine Arnold
Health
June 22, 2021
Houston’s Luminare Crunches Medical Data to Save Lives
Houston-based Luminare’s software analyzes patient records to detect sepsis.
Health
June 22, 2021
Austin’s Comedor Run Club Is Sprinting Toward Better Health for Restaurant Staff
The group of chefs, servers, and restaurant owners is starting a movement to replace the post-shift drink with a pre-shift run.
Health
June 11, 2021
The Changing Face of Veganism
Black Texans are embracing plant-based diets that, though widely associated with educated young whites, have long been part of African American culture.
Politics & Policy
May 19, 2021
How Texas’s New Abortion Restrictions Passed After Years of Being Considered a Third Rail
Greg Abbott signed a bill banning abortion once a heartbeat can be detected and letting Texans sue those who “aid and abet” a woman getting the procedure.
Health
May 19, 2021
She’s Leading the Fight Against Mandatory Vaccines in Texas. She Also Happens to Be a Nurse.
Jennifer Bridges says she isn’t anti-vax, but she's now a cause célèbre among skeptics for threatening to sue her employer for requiring employees get the jab.
Health
May 14, 2021
Turn On, Tune In, Feel Better: The Rise of Psychedelic Therapy in Texas
As clinics across the state offer ketamine therapy for depression, a bill would fund further studies on MDMA use and psilocybin for PTSD treatment of vets.
Health
May 6, 2021
The Baffling Experience of Living With Long COVID
My symptoms lasted for months and changed my life in ways large and small.
Health
April 30, 2021
Why a Former Anti-Vax Influencer Got Her COVID-19 Shot
As vaccination rates slow, a Dallas woman who once garnered hundreds of thousands of social followers by expressing doubt about the safety of inoculations now says, “I trust the science.”
Health
April 28, 2021
Undocumented Texans Are Eligible for the Vaccine. That Doesn’t Mean They’re Accessing It.
Fear of deportation at vaccination clinics and a lack of access to up-to-date information about eligibility have kept many migrant farm workers in Hidalgo County from getting immunized.
News
April 24, 2021
Private Jets, “Shopping Homes,” and WhatsApp: How Mexico’s Elite Accessed Texas’s Vaccine Supply
As vaccination rollout in their country has been slow, wealthy Mexicans have spent thousands on expensive trips abroad to get inoculated.
Health
April 9, 2021
This COVID-19 Vaccine Plant Shows Texas Is Becoming Biotech’s Third Coast
With the pandemic spurring officials to keep more high-tech drug manufacturing on U.S. soil, the state stands to benefit.
Business
March 24, 2021
A Tale of Two Houston Restaurants—One That Requires Masks and Its Neighbor That Doesn’t
Roma and D'Amico's, Italian eateries in the Rice Village, have taken opposite approaches after Greg Abbott lifted pandemic-era restrictions on businesses. Both establishments' owners say they're looking out for staff.
Health
February 24, 2021
“Scheduling Angels” Are Scouring the Internet to Book Vaccine Appointments for Strangers
Volunteers across Texas have stepped up to help seniors, non-English speakers, and others in need navigate an opaque system.
Health
February 22, 2021
The Winter Storm Set Texas Far Back in COVID-19 Vaccinations
Infectious disease expert Dr. Peter Hotez describes last week’s statewide disaster as a harmful delay “in the face of an advancing enemy.”
Health
February 15, 2021
Has a UT Professor Found a Way to Stop COVID-19 Vaccines From Spoiling?
The pharmaceutical industry may not be ready for a coronavirus medicine you can chew like fruit leather.
Health
February 13, 2021
These Texans Started Their Own Testing Facilities as Coronavirus Screening Lagged
Widespread “assurance testing” could effectively end the pandemic before the vaccine does, but a lack of federal coordination has left some citizens to fill screening gaps.
Health
February 10, 2021
Sepsis Kills Millions Each Year. This UT-Dallas Device Aims to Stop That.
Graduate student Ambalika Tanak’s biomedical sensor carries the promise of helping doctors fight a silent killer.
Health
February 1, 2021
Newly Vaccinated Boomers Are Ready to Get Down
While much of the under-65 population awaits their COVID-19 vaccines, the generation that invented sex, drugs, and rock and roll is about to run amok.
News
January 25, 2021
The Texas Lege Always Debates Abortion. This Year It Will Do So With More Vigor.
Anti-abortion advocates are getting their hopes up that the U.S. Supreme Court could undo Roe v. Wade, but some are tired of waiting.