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.
Health
Reporting and analysis about the innovation, trends, and business of medicine and health care
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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.
Health
January 22, 2021
A New Microscope Developed at Rice Could Revolutionize Cancer Surgeries
Enhanced by deep-learning artificial intelligence, the device promises to aid in the removal of tumors.
Health
January 22, 2021
Millions More Texans Have Had COVID-19 Than We Like to Pretend
The official case count doesn’t reflect the pandemic’s reality. I found the satisfaction of ferreting out the actual number to be cold comfort.
News
January 9, 2021
Greg Abbott’s Politics Create a Vaccine Stampede
After his denying local authorities tools to combat community spread, it’s no wonder Texans are desperate for vaccinations to save us from COVID-19’s renewed surge.
Health
January 5, 2021
The 19-Year-Old Funeral Home Employee Facing a Flood of “Death Calls”
Last month, Donavan Diaz planned as many funerals as he might have in six months pre-pandemic.
Politics & Policy
December 22, 2020
A Rural County Battling COVID-19 Faces a Difficult Obstacle: the Local Walmart
The retailer sits 200 yards from Deaf Smith County’s largest hospital. Local officials and public health experts worry that the store isn’t enforcing safety precautions.
Health
December 22, 2020
San Antonio’s Bus Drivers Stepped Up During the Pandemic
Watch the video to follow Bobby Richardson and others as they deliver food, and support, to the families along their routes.
Health
December 22, 2020
Unwilling to Call in an Exterminator, 89-Year-Old Carlene Stalks a Tiny Foe
I’ve been living in my house for 31 years, and I never had a mouse in the house. Well, a few days after Thanksgiving I found a candy wrapper on the floor beneath my kitchen compactor. It was one of those Kind bars, with nuts in them. I
Arts & Entertainment
December 21, 2020
Chopin Versus the Coronavirus: Classical Music Is Helping Houston Patients Heal
Being hospitalized during the pandemic is lonely and dehumanizing. In live, virtual, one-on-one performances, Houston Symphony musicians give the sickest patients a few minutes of peace.
Health
December 18, 2020
Why Alzheimer’s Sufferers Seem Lost in Time and Place
New neuroscience research at UT Southwestern in Dallas unlocks mysteries of how our memories work.
Health
December 14, 2020
The Families of Children With Unexplained Disabilities Are Finally Getting Answers
In Houston, genetic testing innovations are helping doctors solve decades-old mysteries.
Health
December 3, 2020
The COVID-19 Vaccines Are Coming. Is Texas Ready?
Escaping an unprecedented health crisis will require an unprecedented effort for the state’s chronically underfunded public health system.
Health
December 2, 2020
How a Llama and a University of Texas Lab Led to the Most Promising COVID-19 Treatment Yet
Researchers Daniel Wrapp and Jason McLellan owe a scientific honor they won this week to a Belgian camelid named Winter.
Health
December 2, 2020
This ER Doctor and Brownsville Native Is Advising Biden’s COVID-19 Response
Robert Rodriguez tended to patients in the Rio Grande Valley as cases surged last summer, and he’s taken that experience to serving on the president-elect’s pandemic task force.
Health
November 17, 2020
COVID Is Everywhere, Even in “the Last COVID-Free County”
In Loving County, residents still feel the specter of the pandemic.
Health
November 17, 2020
El Paso Natives Face a Holiday Season Far From Home as Their City Suffers
For those who hail from the COVID-19 hot spot, isolation from family this Thanksgiving and Christmas is especially painful.
Health
November 16, 2020
I Live in the Middle of Nowhere. I Still Got COVID.
Eight miles from the nearest town, our ranch felt like a sanctuary. Until it didn’t.
Health
November 11, 2020
Texas Hits 1 Million COVID-19 Cases—More Than Any Other State
A new surge in infections is underway, though transmission rates are down in some areas, and new treatments are reducing the death rate.
Health
October 30, 2020
During COVID, San Antonio’s Botánicas Saw an Uptick in Customers
Follow writer Peter Holley as he explores some of the city's traditional-medicine and faith-healing establishments.
Politics & Policy
October 1, 2020
Nobody Likes a Tattletale—Except in a Pandemic
But in a state where violations are many and consequences are few, reporting reckless neighbors might not make a difference.
Health
September 15, 2020
Desperate for a Coronavirus Cure, Uninsured San Antonians Flock to Healers and Psychics
As COVID-19 spreads, some Hispanic San Antonians are relying on sage, psychics, and prayer.
Health
September 2, 2020
On Texas Time: Davina Davidson, Founder of the Melanin Yoga Project
The Houston teacher and nonprofit leader talks about dismantling racism in yoga.
Health
September 2, 2020
In Port Arthur, Creating COVID-19 Medical Equipment Puts Residents’ Health at Risk
Local petrochemical facilities pump out essential plastic goods—for gloves, masks, gowns, and more—as well as harmful pollutants.
Health
August 25, 2020
Zoos, Aquariums, and Theme Parks Have Reopened Across Texas. But Is Visiting Worth the Risk?
I visited the Houston Zoo in search of normalcy and nostalgia. But filtered through my foggy face mask, the experience was unsettling.
Health
August 20, 2020
Texas A&M Hopes a High-tech Kiosk Will Address a Health Care Crisis in Milam County
The rural area lost both its hospitals. Can a telehealth station in Cameron fill the urgent-care gap?
Health
August 19, 2020
What’s Harvard’s Beef With Texas A&M?
Nutritionists have debated for decades the risks and benefits of eating red meat. But now the fight is getting ugly, with each side accusing the other of conflicts of interest.
The National Podcast of Texas
July 23, 2020
With Students Returning to Campuses This Fall, Contact Tracing Is Key
Texas A&M epidemiologist Dr. Rebecca Fischer on the critical systems being put in place to maximize safety in an uncertain time.
Health
July 16, 2020
How Robots Are Revolutionizing Nursing
Automated helpers, like Diligent Robotics’ Moxi, could reduce the risks to frontline medical workers.
The National Podcast of Texas
July 10, 2020
Dr. Peter J. Hotez on How the Federal Government Failed Texas on the Coronavirus
On the National Podcast of Texas, the pioneering vaccine scientist explains why he believes the White House has put Texans in grave danger.
Health
July 9, 2020
Mr. Westbrook’s Last Song
He was a high school band director and the cornerstone of a lively music scene in southeast Texas—and then a Saturday night gig exposed him to the coronavirus.
Health
July 2, 2020
When COVID-19 Hit the Smith County Jail, One Tyler Activist Became a Citizen Watchdog
Dalila Reynoso, who started a friendship with Sheriff Larry Smith at Whataburger, now monitors local jails to keep him accountable.
Health
July 2, 2020
Why Dallas Is Testing the Recently Deceased to Combat COVID-19
To trace the disease’s spread, the Dallas County medical examiner has set out to screen all of those who end up in his morgue.
Health
July 1, 2020
What Pandemic? Houstonians Party, Shop, and Ice-skate as COVID-19 Surges.
As public health experts warn that ICUs in the city might soon be overwhelmed with coronavirus patients, shops and restaurants remain packed.
Health
June 24, 2020
Virtual Fitness May Be Here to Stay
How the rise of living room calisthenics is challenging boutique gyms and fitness titans like Gold's Gym.
Politics & Policy
June 18, 2020
Greg Abbott Invites You to Figure Out What His Coronavirus Executive Orders Allow
A month and a half after telling local officials they couldn't mandate masks, the Texas governor congratulated a local official on realizing that, actually, they could.
Health
June 18, 2020
How the Pandemic Revealed an Unexpected Benefit of Telehealth
Heart failure nurse Suzanne Ohlmann finds intimacy in challenging circumstances.
Health
June 18, 2020
The Key to Mending the Economy? Expanding Health-Care Access
No, Medicaid expansion isn’t a perfect solution. But it’s the best way to ensure more workers can return to their jobs.
Health
June 12, 2020
How a Texas Expert on Swine Flu Had to Change Her Game
UT epidemiologist Lauren Ancel Meyers spent her career planning for infectious disease outbreaks. She has had to rapidly adapt to the very different challenges posed by the novel coronavirus.
Health
June 9, 2020
Is Texas Headed Toward a Second Wave of COVID-19 Infections?
All of the trend lines in Texas are going the wrong way.
Health
June 3, 2020
“We Can’t Rely on the Systems That Everybody Else Relies On”: Trans Texans Struggle With Health Care Access During COVID-19
Before the pandemic, trans Texans experienced higher rates of poverty and uninsurance than others in the state. The coronavirus crisis is exacerbating inequalities.
Health
June 3, 2020
A New Texas COVID-19 Tracker Offers a Ton of Useful Information
The Texas 2036 project organizes information from the state, Google, and the media to provide a clear picture of the state of the pandemic in Texas.
The National Podcast of Texas
May 29, 2020
Congressman Michael C. Burgess on Balancing Public Health and the Economy
On a special edition of The National Podcast of Texas, the legislator and medical doctor weighs in on Texas’s reopening, masks, and Trump’s reelection chances.
News
May 28, 2020
The West Texas Basketball Tournament at the Center of a Coronavirus Outbreak
A high school competition in Levelland brought fans from across the Panhandle and South Plains in March. Seven would come down with COVID-19.
News
May 25, 2020
“If People Want to Take a Chance, It’s Their Prerogative”: Inside One Bar on the First Day of Reopening
Over Memorial Day weekend, locals and tourists flocked to the Poop Deck in Galveston as Governor Greg Abbott allowed Texas bars to open at limited capacity.
Health
May 20, 2020
The Dr. Fauci of South Texas
Laredo cardiologist Ricardo Cigarroa is on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis, making house calls and “dealing hard doses of truth.”
News
May 19, 2020
Texas Has Decided to Roll the Dice on the Coronavirus
Governor Abbott’s phase two reopenings signal a hope from leaders that maybe this all will just work out, somehow.
Film & TV
May 18, 2020
Matthew McConaughey’s Numerous Pandemic Public Service Announcements, Ranked
The Uvalde native and patron saint of "alright" just keeps makin' videos.
Health
May 18, 2020
How the Pandemic Turned Brené Brown Into America’s Therapist
But for heaven’s sake, the best-selling author, unapologetic cusser, and fifth-generation Texan would rather not be called that.
The National Podcast of Texas
May 15, 2020
Dr. Hana El Sahly on Remdesivir and How Little We Still Know About COVID-19
On a special edition of The National Podcast of Texas, the Baylor College of Medicine investigator takes us inside the high-stakes world of coronavirus research and trials.