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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. arrives at an event at 219 W. Rittenhouse St. in Philadelphia, Sept. 30, 2024.

I had polio in the 1950s. RFK Jr.’s vaccine policy proposals are dangerous.

Polio might seem like a disease of the distant past, but I know its dangers firsthand. To revoke governmental approval of the vaccine would pose a grave threat to public health.

Roger Allen, For The Inquirer

Paul Offit is among the Philadelphia-based scientists gathering with other experts to determine how best to protect public health during the second Trump administration.

Philly scientists brace for a fight over vaccines and health policy with the Trump administration

Alison McCook

Sherrill Davison, an associate professor of avian medicine and pathology at the University of Pennsylvania, tests a sample for avian flu in the school's Kennett Square lab.

How UPenn scientists are tracking bird flu and developing a vaccine

Sarah Gantz and Aubrey Whelan

Health-care facilities received more negative Yelp ratings after COVID-19, and patient satisfaction still hasn’t returned to its pre-pandemic level, according to a new analysis by Penn researchers.

Your health provider likely has negative ratings on Yelp. Here’s why.

Alison McCook

Jeffrey Millstein provides primary care to patients at his practice at Penn Medicine Woodbury Heights.

Expert Opinion | For older adults, not all annual check-ups are alike

Jeffrey Millstein, For The Inquirer

A patient receives the monkeypox vaccine at the Dr. Ala Stanford Center for Health Equity in North Philadelphia in 2022. The Black Doctors Consortium hosted the clinic.

Where to find free vaccines in Philadelphia this winter

Learn where to get free or low-cost COVID-19, flu, and RSV vaccines in Philadelphia. Find city health centers, eligibility details, and tips for staying protected this winter.

Some federal funding for COVID vaccines has been cut, but you can still get a free vaccine in Philly

Health officials here say they hope to encourage more residents to get vaccinated ahead of the winter “sick season.”

A woman holds two boxes of at-home COVID-19 test kits in Washington on Dec. 22, 2021.

Federal program offering free COVID tests is now open

Alexandra Pompan, a customer service associate, gets vaccinated against COVID-19 by Dr. Philip Maceno, pharmacy manager at Walgreens, on Monday, October 23, 2023.

FDA approves new COVID vaccines for fall

A woman holds two boxes of at-home COVID-19 test kits in Washington on Dec. 22, 2021.

Federal program offering free COVID tests is now open

Alexandra Pompan, a customer service associate, gets vaccinated against COVID-19 by Dr. Philip Maceno, pharmacy manager at Walgreens, on Monday, October 23, 2023.

FDA approves new COVID vaccines for fall

Expert Opinions

Expert Opinion | For older adults, not all annual check-ups are alike

How to make sure you receive the kind of physician's examination that you expect.

Jeffrey Millstein, For The Inquirer

Jeffrey Millstein provides primary care to patients at his practice at Penn Medicine Woodbury Heights.

Jeffrey Millstein provides primary care to patients at his practice at Penn Medicine Woodbury Heights.

Expert Opinion | For older adults, not all annual check-ups are alike

How to make sure you receive the kind of physician's examination that you expect.

Jeffrey Millstein, For The Inquirer

Expert opinion | Sleep can worsen over the holidays. These tips can help you get good rest.

Lisa Strauss, Washington Post

The holidays can make sleep elusive, thanks to visits from relatives, changes in schedules, and eating and drinking more.

Medical mystery | What did this teen’s weight loss have to do with allergies?

Samantha Starkey and Rima Himelstein, For The Inquirer

A stethoscope is used in routine medical exams. One patient's mysterious problem, developed at summer sports practices, has a surprisingly everyday cause.

Expert Opinion | Are you getting enough protein?

Mayo Clinic News Network, Tribune News Service

Lentils are a good way to add protein to your diet with less fat.

Expert Opinion | What you need to know about the dangers posed by E. coli to the kidneys

Helena Kurniawan, For The Inquirer

A quarter pounder with cheese, fries, and a drink arranged at a McDonald's restaurant in El Sobrante, Calif.

A trackway of footprints hypothesized to have been created by a Paranthropus boisei individual.

Ancient footprints show two different human ancestors coexisted at the same spot 1.5M years ago

The Giant Heart in the Body Odyssey exhibit at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.

The big heart is back: Inside the Franklin Institute’s new Body Odyssey and Hamilton Collections Gallery

Peter Dobrin and Stephanie Farr

A trackway of footprints hypothesized to have been created by a Paranthropus boisei individual.

Ancient footprints show two different human ancestors coexisted at the same spot 1.5M years ago

The Giant Heart in the Body Odyssey exhibit at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.

The big heart is back: Inside the Franklin Institute’s new Body Odyssey and Hamilton Collections Gallery

Peter Dobrin and Stephanie Farr

A pedestrian walks in the rain on Spruce near Camac Streets. It will about 30 degrees colder on Thursday.

After the storm, Philly is getting its biggest chill since January

Anthony R. Wood

Pedestrians walk in the rain through Rittenhouse Square late last month. After a bone-dry September and October, the rains have returned.

Heaviest rains in four months and 50 mph wind gusts are possible in the Philly region Wednesday

Anthony R. Wood

A pedestrian walks in the rain on Spruce near Camac Streets. It will about 30 degrees colder on Thursday.

After the storm, Philly is getting its biggest chill since January

Anthony R. Wood

Pedestrians walk in the rain through Rittenhouse Square late last month. After a bone-dry September and October, the rains have returned.

Heaviest rains in four months and 50 mph wind gusts are possible in the Philly region Wednesday

Anthony R. Wood

Reproductive Health

Four Philly abortion providers talk about the calling that drives them to do emotionally challenging work

“If abortion is legal but there’s nobody to provide them, we don’t have legal abortion,” said Lisa Perriera, medical director of The Women’s Center’s five clinics.

Sarah Gantz and video by Lauren Schneiderman

6:44

6:44

Four Philly abortion providers talk about the calling that drives them to do emotionally challenging work

“If abortion is legal but there’s nobody to provide them, we don’t have legal abortion,” said Lisa Perriera, medical director of The Women’s Center’s five clinics.

Sarah Gantz and video by Lauren Schneiderman

Post-Roe, contraceptive failures carry bigger stakes

Sarah Varney, Kaiser Health News

Birth control failures can have big consequences in a post-Roe United States.

Planned Parenthood is America’s largest abortion provider. Most Philadelphians who go there aren’t ending a pregnancy.

Bobbie Trotenberg, a patient escort, watched as a patient entered Planned Parenthood in Center City after she walked her to the door in Philadelphia on July 20.

How overturning ‘Roe v. Wade’ will affect abortion access in Pa., NJ

People gather outside the Pennsylvania State Capitol Building for the Bans Off Our Bodies rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, October 2, 2021. The rally is part of demonstrations happening across the country defending women’s rights to seek abortions.

Pa. could see a surge of 8,500 abortion patients from other states

High schoolers from Philadelphia walk through the north portal of Philadelphia's City Hall to meet up with other students to protest for abortion rights on May 25, 2022.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle A. Henry last month.

Health & Pharma

Pa., N.J. join settlement with generic drug firms accused of price-fixing. Consumers may be eligible for refunds.

A woman holds two boxes of at-home COVID-19 test kits in Washington on Dec. 22, 2021.

Federal program offering free COVID tests is now open

Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle A. Henry last month.

Health & Pharma

Pa., N.J. join settlement with generic drug firms accused of price-fixing. Consumers may be eligible for refunds.

A woman holds two boxes of at-home COVID-19 test kits in Washington on Dec. 22, 2021.

Federal program offering free COVID tests is now open

The Opioid Crisis

Joe Henery, 77, who lives in Washington, D.C., used heroin for 30 years before getting clean.

The Opioid Crisis

How drug overdose deaths have plagued one generation of Black men across the U.S. for decades

Josh Katz, Margot Sanger-Katz, and Nick Thieme, New York Times

Philadelphia City Councilmember Mark Squilla speaks during a January 2023 news conference regarding how the city will spend money from national opioid settlements.

The Opioid Crisis

How are states spending opioid settlement cash? This database has answers.

Aneri Pattani, KFF Health News

Joe Henery, 77, who lives in Washington, D.C., used heroin for 30 years before getting clean.

The Opioid Crisis

How drug overdose deaths have plagued one generation of Black men across the U.S. for decades

Josh Katz, Margot Sanger-Katz, and Nick Thieme, New York Times

Philadelphia City Councilmember Mark Squilla speaks during a January 2023 news conference regarding how the city will spend money from national opioid settlements.

The Opioid Crisis

How are states spending opioid settlement cash? This database has answers.

Aneri Pattani, KFF Health News

Special Reports

Lily Walker (left) with her cousin Peter Cellucci on the steps of the Washington Monument fountain at Eakins Oval at the 20th annual CHOP Parkway Run & Walk on Sunday in Philadelphia.

A medical mystery: Why two Philly-area cousins, just miles apart, got rare brain cancers

Pediatric cancer is rare. Malignant brain tumors in kids are even rarer. But these two cousins are in treatment for different, though equally aggressive, types of brain cancer — at the same time.

Hazel Rollerson, mother of Elwood Porter, who died of an overdose in the summer of 2021, shown here with the ashes of her son, in her home in Sicklerville, New Jersey, Tuesday, August 16, 2022.

Overdoses are killing a record number of Philadelphians as deaths soar among Black residents

Aubrey Whelan and Kasturi Pananjady

Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw.

Philadelphia News

From August 2022: Philly FOP picked problematic doctors for police ‘injured on duty’ benefit

Barbara Laker, David Gambacorta, and William Bender

6:44

Four Philly abortion providers talk about the calling that drives them to do emotionally challenging work

Sarah Gantz and video by Lauren Schneiderman

Mary Adamson (center), an ICU Nurse at Temple University Hospital, with other Temple nurses. Adamson wrote a piece about all of the nurses that remain in the profession.

5 medical professionals on why they stay as hospital workers flee post-COVID

Mary Adamson, Maureen May, Uhura Free Russ, Latoya Charise Nesbitt, Carlos Aviles, and Jonathan Ley

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