Want cheaper prescriptions? Start bargaining

President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders wrote in a recent op-ed that there’s “no rational reason” why Americans pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs — almost three times more than their peers overseas, according to a recent analysis.

Why chronic diseases are even scarier than bird flu

So far, the U.S. has gotten off relatively easy when it comes to bird flu. Humans have, at least. Although the virus has propagated across the nation — infecting countless farmed animals, spreading to wildlife and killing them, sickening farm workers, affecting egg prices and contaminating cow’s milk — it hasn’t yet been fatal for humans in this country.

How best to prepare for a brokered convention

As the political world hangs on whether Joe Biden continues his presidential campaign, an obvious question is how the Democratic Party might pick a new nominee. Its options are limited, given the primary season is long past and the Aug. 19 convention is only weeks away. But they are worth getting right for this year and future presidential cycles.

We don’t need to live in a world of climate doom

During extreme climate events — like the record heat waves we’re experiencing this summer — people who know me as a climate activist often ask: How do you stay hopeful? How do you keep fighting when the effects of climate change keep getting worse?

FEMA’s looming budget deficit calls for resources and new thinking

As communities along the Gulf Coast begin the cleanup from Hurricane Beryl, which made landfall Monday as a weakened Category 1 storm, they should find comfort in knowing that help is coming. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is well schooled in disaster recovery and has been on the ground since spring, when some of those same areas suffered flooding in uncommonly heavy rains.

It’s not just hype. AI could revolutionize diagnosis in medicine

The history of medical diagnosis is a march through painstaking observation. Ancient Egyptian physicians first diagnosed urinary tract infections by observing patterns in patients’ urine. To diagnose diseases of the heart and lungs, medieval doctors added core elements of the physical examination: pulse, palpation and percussion. The 20th century saw the addition of laboratory studies, and the 21st century of sophisticated imaging and genetics.

As I See It: The Ukraine war

Putin’s war on Ukraine is killing people in Europe, especially Poland, not instantly, but inevitably. This is due to an increase in air pollution from battlefield operations and the disruption of natural gas supplies that forces Poles and others to rely on dirtier fuels. They may have to do without some modern amenities.