Health news includes research announcements, regulatory decisions, professional guidance and changes in access to care. These developments have different meanings. An approval concerns a defined product or use; a guideline offers recommendations for a specified group; and a study reports findings within its own design and population. This section collects reporting that readers can use to place a development in context.
Begin with the guide to evaluating health news, then explore reporting on self-collected HPV tests and access to over-the-counter contraception. These articles offer starting points for asking who issued a statement, what changed, when it changed and which people or settings it concerns. The archive also includes maternal health policy, clinical testing, reproductive health services and the financing of women’s health.
A news report describes the information available at a point in time. Later decisions, revised guidance or new research may change the picture, so check the article date and follow the identified source for updates. Registered studies in the Trial Tracker are separate from published findings. Discuss a story’s relevance to your own care with a qualified clinician before changing treatment or making a screening decision.
Cortisol tests have legitimate medical uses, but a hormone reading is not a complete measure of stress. The useful distinction is between everyday distress and a suspected endocrine disorder.
Trace a health headline to its source, check who was studied and distinguish trial registrations from results before sharing or changing care.
Patients can now swab themselves for cervical cancer screening in a clinic, and one at-home kit is FDA-approved. Here is what each approval covers, what the evidence shows, and where national guidance still stands.
More than half of states now let Medicaid pay for a doula, but reporting on the ground shows low reimbursement and looming federal cuts are keeping the benefit out of reach for many who qualify.
Opill's OTC availability since 2024 changed access rules, but coverage and pharmacists' standing-order rules vary by state.
Viatris announced approval on July 29, 2026, adding a lower estrogen-dose option to the small US patch market.